African entrepreneurs dominated the list of seven finalists at the second Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur prize.
Daniel Yu, an American, ultimately scored the grand prize at the Unilever backed event with his ReliefWatch app. As part of the prize, Yu was awarded €50,000 and a tailored mentoring programme from Unilever experts and event co-sponsor, the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership through 2015.
Mark Boots with VOTO Mobile, David Opio with Ensibuuko, Charles Batte with Tree Adoption Uganda and Alloysius Attah with Farmerline are the four Africans who featured alongside two others from Asia as runners-up. They each received a cash prize of €10,000 in addition to mentoring and support.
“I am delighted to see the increased interest our second year awards programme has received, and incredibly impressed by Daniel and the other inspiring young people with excellent initiatives that we are able to support,” Unilever chief executive officer (CEO) Paul Polman said.
The awards celebrate inspirational entrepreneurs aged 30 and under who have developed a product, service or application that helps make sustainable living commonplace.
Image via: nextbillion
