Three Entrepreneurs in Africa Win Places in Annual ASME ISHOW Cohort with Innovative Solutions to Energy and Healthcare Challenges
Three Entrepreneurs in Africa Win Places in Annual ASME ISHOW Cohort with Innovative Solutions to Energy and Healthcare Challenges
NEW YORK (June 25, 2024) – The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has announced the regional winners of the 2024 ASME Innovation Showcase (ISHOW), the prestigious international accelerator of hardware-led social innovation. Seven social ventures from throughout Africa pitched their innovative solutions and participated in an extensive design and engineering review with expert judges on June 19 and 20 in Nairobi. Three regional winners were selected to join the 2024 ASME ISHOW cohort and announced at an invitation-only awards ceremony. They will receive a share of $30,000 in grant awards and technical support to help bring their impactful innovations to market.
The 2024 ASME ISHOW Kenya regional winners are:
“Through the vision and creativity of these talented entrepreneurs and the guidance of expert mentors, ASME ISHOW and IDEA LAB are transforming groundbreaking ideas into market-ready products that improve lives,” said ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile. “These programs are key components of ASME’s sustainability and climate strategy, aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.”
The 2024 ISHOW cohort will be invited to the annual ISHOW Bootcamp in the winter to receive an extensive and customized design and engineering review by experts curated to guide them as they scale to market. They will also have a chance to earn a second round of seed grants from ASME. They become part of the ISHOW alumni network, an international community of hardware innovators and stakeholders with exclusive access to experts and resources.
ASME ISHOW judges and facilitators include experts in research, sustainability, mechanical engineering and product design, manufacturing, startup financing, supply chain, and business strategy, representing organizations including Gearbox, GlobalX Investments, Kenyatta University, Octavia Carbon, Sun King, Villgro Africa, ZOLA Electric, and several ISHOW alumni. These subject matter experts provide technical and strategic guidance based on ISHOW’s five key pillars: customer/user knowledge, hardware validation, manufacturing optimization, implementation strategy, and impact.
The prestigious ASME ISHOW hardware accelerator is open to individuals and organizations taking physical products to market that will have a positive social and environmental impact and that improve the quality of life around the world. ASME ISHOW annually matches up to 30 carefully selected innovators with appropriate experts to ensure that the proposed hardware solutions are technologically, environmentally, culturally, and financially sustainable. To date, ISHOW has enabled over 230 startups from more than 35 countries to solve critical quality-of-life challenges for vulnerable populations worldwide. ISHOW alumni have developed affordable devices to address issues including clean combustion, crop threshing, fetal health, food waste prevention, health diagnostics, safe drinking water, and many more that address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
ISHOW USA will be held virtually July 23-25. ISHOW India winners were announced April 25 in Chennai. Threeventures selected at each event will join the ISHOW 2024 cohort.
In 2022, ASME launched the IDEA LAB incubator, extending the reach of the ISHOW hardware accelerator platform. With IDEA LAB, ASME moves upstream to aid budding social entrepreneurs in developing and implementing their impactful hardware concepts from the pre-prototype stage. IDEA LAB participants receive assistance and seed grants in bringing their concept to the prototyping stages of product development. Applications for IDEA LAB are open year-round and reviewed on a rolling basis.
ASME is grateful to
Follow the journeys of ISHOW alumni including GenH, PlenOptika, Himalayan Rocket Stove, SAYeTECH and others here.
@ASMEISHOW #ASMEISHOW #asme #ISHOW24 #innovation #socialventures #ThisIsHardware
@ASMEdotorg
The ASME Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, supporting an array of programs in three core pillars: engineering education, career engagement, and global development. With the goal of empowering tomorrow's technical workforce, the ASME Foundation advances equitable access both to professional opportunities and to engineering innovations that improve quality of life. For more information, visit www.asmefoundation.org.
Monica Shovlin
MCShovlin Communications LLC (for ASME)
monica@mcshovlin.com
+1.541.554.3796
The 2024 ASME ISHOW Kenya regional winners are:
- Afya Lead (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) for its “Mkanda Salama” innovation – a patented, non-invasive, affordable device designed to address postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), a leading cause of maternal mortality globally
- Megagas Alternative Energy Enterprise Limited (Nairobi, Kenya) for its “Community Kitchens Powered by Renewable Energy” – The company converts plastic waste into clean cooking gas via a patented process and distributes it through women entrepreneurs. Its community kitchens offer affordable, eco-friendly cooking solutions at $0.02 per hour, serving as social hubs for low-income households.
- Neosave Technologies Limited (Mbarara, Uganda) for its “Autothermo” solution – a wearable medical device designed for clinicians to continuously monitor sick newborns admitted to care, particularly in regions including Uganda with limited human resources for health.
“Through the vision and creativity of these talented entrepreneurs and the guidance of expert mentors, ASME ISHOW and IDEA LAB are transforming groundbreaking ideas into market-ready products that improve lives,” said ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile. “These programs are key components of ASME’s sustainability and climate strategy, aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.”
The 2024 ISHOW cohort will be invited to the annual ISHOW Bootcamp in the winter to receive an extensive and customized design and engineering review by experts curated to guide them as they scale to market. They will also have a chance to earn a second round of seed grants from ASME. They become part of the ISHOW alumni network, an international community of hardware innovators and stakeholders with exclusive access to experts and resources.
ASME ISHOW judges and facilitators include experts in research, sustainability, mechanical engineering and product design, manufacturing, startup financing, supply chain, and business strategy, representing organizations including Gearbox, GlobalX Investments, Kenyatta University, Octavia Carbon, Sun King, Villgro Africa, ZOLA Electric, and several ISHOW alumni. These subject matter experts provide technical and strategic guidance based on ISHOW’s five key pillars: customer/user knowledge, hardware validation, manufacturing optimization, implementation strategy, and impact.
The prestigious ASME ISHOW hardware accelerator is open to individuals and organizations taking physical products to market that will have a positive social and environmental impact and that improve the quality of life around the world. ASME ISHOW annually matches up to 30 carefully selected innovators with appropriate experts to ensure that the proposed hardware solutions are technologically, environmentally, culturally, and financially sustainable. To date, ISHOW has enabled over 230 startups from more than 35 countries to solve critical quality-of-life challenges for vulnerable populations worldwide. ISHOW alumni have developed affordable devices to address issues including clean combustion, crop threshing, fetal health, food waste prevention, health diagnostics, safe drinking water, and many more that address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
ISHOW USA will be held virtually July 23-25. ISHOW India winners were announced April 25 in Chennai. Three
In 2022, ASME launched the IDEA LAB incubator, extending the reach of the ISHOW hardware accelerator platform. With IDEA LAB, ASME moves upstream to aid budding social entrepreneurs in developing and implementing their impactful hardware concepts from the pre-prototype stage. IDEA LAB participants receive assistance and seed grants in bringing their concept to the prototyping stages of product development. Applications for IDEA LAB are open year-round and reviewed on a rolling basis.
ASME is grateful to
Follow the journeys of ISHOW alumni including
@ASMEISHOW #ASMEISHOW #asme #ISHOW24 #innovation #socialventures #ThisIsHardware
About ASME
ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education, and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world. In 2020, ASME formed the International Society of Interdisciplinary Engineers (ISIE) II & III LLC, a new for-profit subsidiary to house business ventures that will bring new and innovative products, services, and technologies to the engineering community. For more information, visit www.asme.org.
@ASMEdotorgThe ASME Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, supporting an array of programs in three core pillars: engineering education, career engagement, and global development. With the goal of empowering tomorrow's technical workforce, the ASME Foundation advances equitable access both to professional opportunities and to engineering innovations that improve quality of life. For more information, visit www.asmefoundation.org.
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Media Contact:Monica Shovlin
MCShovlin Communications LLC (for ASME)
monica@mcshovlin.com
+1.541.554.3796
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