Ajaita Shah from India has been named the 2017 Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Catalyst pitch competition Grand Champion at Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES).
The result was announced at closing plenary of the summit, which concluded here Thursday.
Her startup, Frontier Markets, is a last mile distribution solution for energy products with a focus on solar technology that empowers women. It gives women the tools they need to teach their communities about the benefits of solar power and sell solar products, said a statement.
As the Grand Champion, Shah will receive $50,000 in Amazon Web Services credits; a Dell laptop computer; admission to the 2018 Circular Summit from Alice; an exclusive virtual mentoring session with an Amazon Executive; $100,000 in Google Cloud credits; an interview for Inc. Magazine by Elizabeth Gore, Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Chairman of the Board of Alice; and admission to the 2018 Circular Board Accelerator cohort from Alice.
She will also be designated the Cognizant "Genesis Award" Winner and receive $2,000 in cash, courtesy of Cognizant.
Jainesha Sinha, founder of GyanDhan, from India; Fiona Edwards Murphy, founder of ApisProtect, from Ireland; and Vaishali Neotia, founder of Merxius Software, from India; all made to the finals for the GIST Catalyst pitch competition. As finalists, they will receive $10,000 in Amazon Web Services credits, a Dell laptop computer, a Circular Summit scholarship from Alice, and $100,000 in Google Cloud credits.
Molly Morse, founder of Mango Materials, from the US, received the Women First Award from Amazon Web Services. She will receive $50,000 in Amazon Web Services credits, an exclusive virtual mentoring session with an Amazon executive, and a Dell laptop computer.
Runner-ups will receive $5,000 in Amazon Web Services credits, $20,000 in Google Cloud credits and a Dell laptop computer. And each of the remaining semifinalists will receive $1,500 in Amazon Web Services credits. In total, GIST Catalyst semifinalists competed for over $400,000 in startup resources.