IIC Latin America Regional Winners Named
The 2019 MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC) regional competitions are under way
On September 5, the IIC Latin America regional event in Mexico City kicked off the global tournament by naming the first four winners and grand-prize finalists. From short-term capital loans in Peru, to precision agriculture techniques for small farmers in Columbia, these inclusive innovators are using technology to broaden the reach of the digital economy.
The celebration in Mexico City was held at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe. IDE co-director, Andrew McAfee (far left in photo), and IIC Producer, Susan Young (second from left), presented the awards.
The four Regional Winners and their categories are:
TiendaPago: Financial Inclusion
TiendaPago is an online lender that provides small, “mom and pop” stores with short-term (one week) working capital loans. Offices are in Peru and Mexico.
Talentu: Skills Development & Opportunity Matching
Talentu is an AI-driven e-learning platform that efficiently matches unskilled job-seekers and companies and develops candidate skills.
AGROS: Technology Access
AGROS offers small farmers remote sensing and precision agriculture technologies to more broadly include them in the business ecosystems in Columbia and Peru.
Jetty: Income Growth & Job Creation
Jetty technology improves the financial sustainability of the struggling, quasi-informal transit industry in Mexico by dignifying work for drivers and enhancing passenger safety and comfort.
Watch video of the awards and keynote by IDE co-director, Andrew McAfee, here.
Regional finalists in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America will also pitch their #futureofwork solutions in the next month and compete for the opportunity to attend the celebration at MIT in November and vie for the $1 million grand prize. The Four regional winners chosen live at each event receive $20,000 and an all-expenses paid trip to MIT, where they vie to win the $250,000 Global Grand Prize in their category. The remaining eight finalists in each region are awarded $5,000 each.
The remaining regional celebrations and announcement of winners will be held in September and October as follows:
- North America, September 18: MaRS Discovery District will host the IIC U.S. & Canada Celebration, featuring leading speakers from the local and regional ecosystem, at the MaRS Centre (Auditorium) in Toronto, Ontario.
- Africa, September 20: Liquid Telecom will host the IIC Africa Celebration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- Asia, October 5: LCY will host the IIC Asia Celebration at their new R&D Innovation Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Join us at the event!
- Europe, October 7: Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will host the IIC Europe Celebration at their global headquarters.
Follow all of the latest IIC news and updates here.
