Success for the 1st edition of Social Business Creation!
September 15, 2016
With 44 teams made up of 108 students from 30 university institutions, representing 16 countries worldwide, the first edition of the Social Business Creation competition, which ended on September 12, was a tremendous success!
This new international competition, organized by HEC Montréal in co-operation with Grameen Creative Lab, was launched in April 2016. After completing three demanding elimination rounds, including a business proposal for a social enterprise, an online course, training, raising money through crowdfunding, recruiting stakeholders, and presentations before a jury, three projects came out on top:
| Social business name | Description | University institution | Country of origin of team members | |
| 1st prize | ProtERA | Develop insect farming in West Africa, to help create a sustainable, affordable and widely available food source. | McGill University | Republic of Mali |
| 2nd prize | PediCare | Provide nutritional supplements for parents unable to meet their infants’ dietary needs, and thereby contribute to healthy infant growth. | Daffodil International University | Popular Republic of Bangladesh |
| 3rd prize | El negro está de moda | Promote racial equality and offer black entrepreneurs the tools and training they need to create sustainable businesses, so that they can integrate into local communities and overcome poverty. | HEC Montréal | Republic of Colombia |
Congratulations to the three teams, which will launch their businesses this fall, and to all the participants!
Sidiki A. Sow, founder and President and CEO of ProtERA, presenting his business proposal to the judges in the third round of the Social Business Creation competition. He explained how ProtERA would produce poultry and fish meal based on fly protein.