Menlo Park, Calif. — (Business Wire) — Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) 2020 Global Finals kicked off in April 2020 with more than 2,400 world-changing startups from 87 countries showcasing their technologies at a time when their innovations and ideas have never mattered more.

The field of outstanding candidates was ultimately narrowed to seven remarkable Category Winners, which went on to compete in the Global Finals on July 15th.

This year’s XTC winners overcame tremendous obstacles to turn their ideas into reality and unlock breakthrough innovations in service of society. The competition enabled invaluable collaborations between entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and global corporations to collectively change the world for the better.

The seven outstanding Category Winners that competed in this year’s XTC Global Finals are:

Genecis (Cleantech & Energy):
Genecis converts food waste into biodegradable plastics and other high value materials, helping to reduce the 18 billion pounds of plastic polluting our oceans every year.

Hala Systems (Enabling Technologies):
The Hala platform uses IoT, AI, remote sensing, and a distributed ledger to prevent violence and mitigate social challenges in the most dangerous places on Earth.

MicroGen Biotech (Agtech, Food & Water):
MicroGen develops a technology to block the uptake of heavy metals by crops and restore contaminated soil.

ReWire (Fintech):
ReWire boosts economic growth and financial independence in developing countries through a digital banking platform designed for the world’s 270 million migrant workers.

Saathi (Healthcare):
Saathi makes eco-friendly hygiene products for women from banana tree fiber.

SPRK.Global (Transportation & Smart Cities):
SPRK is on a mission to turn 1.6 billion tons of wasted food into a global business by using AI to understand and anticipate oversupply patterns.

TOMi.Digital (Education):
Thousands of K-12 teachers are using the TOMi app to create interactive classes to engage students remotely and in-person, even without classroom internet.

The Global Winner of the 2020 XTC competition is Genecis, an awe-inspiring cleantech startup that is having a profound impact on the planet.

Genecis, along with the other Category Winners, will receive full exposure to the XTC network over the next 12 months, as well as access to investors, corporations, and mentors to help gain global visibility, raise capital, launch corporate collaborations, accelerate growth, and reach greater scale.

The XTC competition is supported by more than 35 leading corporations, venture capital firms, universities, event and media partners. All told, more than 120 volunteers from the investment and corporate communities served as judges and helped organize regional competitions to bubble up the best of the best.

All seven Category Winners delivered impactful presentations to XTC’s panel of six judges that included internet legend and Yahoo! Co-Founder Jerry Yang; Young Sohn; Tim Draper, Founding Partner, Draper Associates; Philippe Botteri, Partner, Accel; Rafaèle Tordjman, Founder, Jeito Capital; and Bill Tai, Partner Emeritus, Charles River Ventures, and Co-Founder of XTC.

COVID-19 & Female Founder Winners

As a bonus, this year’s XTC competition also featured two inaugural awards that went to a breakthrough startup responding to the global COVID-19 crisis and to a female-founded startup whose innovations are driving solutions to global challenges.

The Covid-19 Innovation Award went to Tyto Care, an innovative startup that is transforming healthcare delivery with on-demand medical exams from the comfort of home.

Receiving the Female Founder Award was MicroGen Biotech, whose platform technology reduces heavy metals in crops to protect the health of all mankind and improves the health of soils.

Presenting the awards were esteemed leaders across multiple industries. Advertising guru and Publicis Chairman Maurice Lévy delivered the Global Winner Award, while Tamara Steffens, Managing Director of Microsoft M12 handed out the Female Founders Award. Additionally, Dr. Hansell Steadman of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford of Harvard Medical School presented the Covid-19 Innovation Award.

Representatives from top organizations including the United Nations, International Finance Corporation (a division of the World Bank Group), Cisco, Citi Ventures, NXP, UCSF, and the University of California were also in attendance to virtually present awards to the seven XTC Category Winners.

To learn about the XTC Finalists and connect with the team, go to extremetechchallenge.org/finalists.

Contacts

Daniel Yoo
dan.yoo@samsung.com