Washington, D.C., August 13, 2024. The Finals of the eighteenth edition of the Talent and Innovation Competitions of the Americas (TIC Americas) brought together 23 finalist teams from 13 countries over two days. The event, held in the context of International Youth Day, concluded with an emotional ceremony where the top 10 projects were announced.
This edition of TIC Americas, a hemispheric program developed since 2007 by the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) and the Organization of American States (OAS), hosted the InnovAction Challenge 2.0 in partnership with the Inter-American Foundation, and “Youth on the Move” Innovation Challenge, in collaboration with USA for IOM.
The 23 finalist teams were selected from a total of 1,971 registrations from 33 countries, involving 2,393 young people. Around 200 international experts participated as judges, mentors, and trainers, who were recognized during the closing ceremony.
Over two days, the finalists had the opportunity to interact with and listen to Sara Aviel, President and CEO of the Inter-American Foundation; Luciano Arroio, Interim CEO and Director of Operations at USA for IOM; Kim Osborne, Executive Secretary for Integral Development at the OAS; María Celina Conte, Director of the Summits of the Americas Secretariat at the OAS; Suelma Rosa dos Santos, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Latin America at PepsiCo; Luis Viguria and Valerie Lorena, CEO and Executive Director of YABT, respectively.
The 23 Finalist teams also had the opportunity to participate as panelists in a series of roundtable discussions, allowing them to interact and exchange perspectives on sustainability, development, and other priority topics for the program, with experts and representatives from organizations such as FAO, IICA, Banreservas, Innova-Nation, and REMSA.
The teams that received awards in the “Youth on the Move” Innovation Challenge 2.0 are:
| Seed Capital: US$2,500 | |
| Team | Country |
| Tesis Time | Ecuador |
| Business Support Package | |
| Joyería Hipoalergénica para todo tipo de ph | Perú |
| ECOSOS | Perú |
The winners of the second edition of the InnovAcción Challenge are:
| Prototyping Stage | Award: US$2,500 | |
| Team | Country |
| Campis | Peru |
| Finca Regenerativa Comizahual | El Salvador |
| Iwa Ingeniería y Educación | Colombia |
| Oruvital | Uruguay |
| Minimum Viable Product Stage | Award: US$5,000 | |
| BioFun | Costa Rica |
| Kpulí Voltando Terra | Ecuador |
| Defossilize-30 Advanced Biofuel | Jamaica |
| TERRA WEB | Colombia |
| Start-Up Stage | Award: US$10,000 | |
| Bliss Circular Economy | Panama |
The full event recording, Virtual Expo, and details of the Finals are available on the portal: www.ticamericas.net/finales
For more information and to explore collaboration opportunities, please contact YABT through Edgar Maestre, Director of Programs, via edgar.maestre@yabt.net
YABT is a non-profit international organization with cooperation agreement with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.
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