VOTE: Three young Zambian innovators named as '2016 Tech-I Global Pitch Competition' semifinalists

By Staff Reporter, LUSAKA 

GIST Tech-I team is pleased to announce the selection of 102 exceptional young science and technology entrepreneurs to advance to the 2016 Tech-I Global Pitch Competition semifinals. 

This year’s GIST Tech-I semifinalists represent 51 emerging economies, including 11 first-time GIST-eligible economies. And three Zambian young innovators have been shortlisted: Moonga Cholwe, Siamunza Mwiinga and Edward Mulenga. 

Their ideas and startups address a variety of critical science and technology sectors, including agriculture, aerospace and engineering, education, health, environment, energy, and information and communications technology. 

In 2014, the three semifinalists from Zambia included Dot Com Zambia, represented by Mawano Kambeu, for their design of an intercity electronic bus ticketing system called Bus Tickets Zambia; Muchu Kaingu with m-Retailer, a cloud-based mobile application that interfaces with Point of Sale and Stock Management Systems to give better business insights to the retailer and Cholwe Sapwe with his invention of a self- reliable generator that has inbuilt self-charging system that allows it to run longer than a typical fuel or battery powered generator. 

And Kambeu, founder of the Dot Com Zambia, scooped the second place GIST Tech-I award (startup category) for the electronic bus ticketing system called Bus Tickets Zambia. He received a cash grant of US $7,500 from the U.S. Department of State to continue developing his business and three months of a one-on-one mentoring session from a global expert in his field. 

The GIST Tech-I Global Pitch Competition is part of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Initiative, which seeks to empower innovators in 135 emerging economies to transform their communities. 

Each year, GIST Tech-I enables promising science and technology entrepreneurs launch or grow a business through mentorship, training, international visibility, and seed capital prizes. 

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has been proud to administer the competition since 2014. 

Participation in GIST Tech-I has grown nearly 50% since 2014, with more than 1,000 online applications from 104 emerging economies received. To determine the 2016 semifinalists, applications were reviewed by regional, scientific, technical, and entrepreneurship experts from around the world. 

The expert panels assessed each idea or start-up’s technical feasibility, its market potential, and the significance of the problem it addresses. 

The 102 applicants who have advanced to the 2016 GIST Tech-I semifinals have already distinguished themselves from an impressive pool of young innovators. Now, your online votes will help determine which thirty advance to showcase their ideas to some of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs at GES 2016. 

To be a part of the 2016 GIST Tech-I finalist selection process, click here to watch the semifinalists’ pitch videos starting April 1 and vote for your favorite innovations every day until May 1. 

You can vote for each semifinalist once per day for the entire month of voting. Each time you vote, you will also have the opportunity to nominate a country or territory to win GIST Regional Startup Boot Camp training resources for its entrepreneurs in 2017. 

Until May 1, the semifinalists’ 90 second pitch videos will be put to a global online vote to help determine the thirty finalists to pitch at the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2016), June 23-24 in Silicon Valley, CA.