With 10 billion expected inhabitants by 2050, the solution to meeting the increasing needs of our population within the limited resources of our planet lies in the hands of bold innovators. As part of the Uniting Water Energy Food Innovation Tour, the grand final of Get in the Ring Expo Dubai was held at the Netherlands Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai yesterday.

The event kicked-off with an inspiring speech from Roald Lapperre, Vice Minister for the Environment, Netherlands. He said: “ All three sectors – water, energy and food are closely related to climate change. Climate change is one of the key global issues of our period today and so is the need for clean energy and adequate food supply for a growing population. We need fresh, innovative and creative ideas to bring a change to resolve global challenges together. We need more of such competitions and to make more connections worldwide. At the Netherlands Pavilion, you will see some of the finest examples of innovative solutions that unite water, energy and food sectors.” Quoting the Prime Minister’s words, Vice-Minister Roald emphasized that the only way to move ahead is to consistently follow three steps, ‘Action. Action. Action’.

With Remco Temmink as the ringmaster, the most promising startups battled in the ring to prove their impact solutions can meet the increasing needs of a growing global population and add value to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The four finalists were SOLHO (Netherlands), Entoprotech (Israel), Gazelle Wind Power Limited (UAE) and Digital Energy (UAE). The competitors went through five rounds of only 30 seconds each to convince the jury about the potential of their project, presenting their achievements and business model, but also highlighting the weaknesses of their opponent. An impressive jury panel were there to judge the battles consisting of: Lucy Chow– Senior Senator to UAE at World Business Angels Investment Forum,Yousuf Caires– Senior Vice President of Expo Live and Jeroen van den Bosch Chief Commercial Officer at Unknown Group.

After an intense debate, the jury decided to crown Sasha Babitsky, CEO Entoprotechand Jon Salazar, Founder and President Gazelle Wind Power Limited as the Global Winners of the Uniting Water Energy Food Finals. Coming next, the winning solutions will explore potential collaborations with partners that promote entrepreneurial ecosystems with the support of Unknown Group.

H.E. Carel Richter, Commissioner General of the Netherlands Pavilion was very impressed and said : “It is extremely vital to encourage and nourish new business ideas that will develop into impactful, smarter, sustainable solutions that help tackle global challenges today. The Netherlands Pavilion is a platform for connecting such innovative founders. Look around our pavilion! The sustainable techniques that connect water, energy and food within the pavilion are a result of futuristic thinking Dutch architects and expertise.  Congratulations to Unknown Group for a very well organized hybrid event even during this pandemic and to each finalist for showcasing premium quality projects.”

Over the last decade, Get in the Ring has grown to become the world’s most global startup competition with events in over 100 countries and one of the most credible avenues to be noticed by investors, reaching countless startups and their founders every year – in the last year over 25,000 startups from 109 countries applied to Get in the Ring events.

“At Unknown, we love the opportunities to collaborate with embassies and governments to support startups. We’ve proven in the past that our approach of identifying and doing deal making with the most promising startups in a country is the most effective way of boosting its innovation ecosystem and solving major challenges” concluded Jeroen van den Bosch Chief Commercial Officer at Unknown Group. To further support the selected startups of the Uniting Water Energy Food Finals, ImpactCity andBerytech are joining in to help scale impact solutions in The Netherlands and MENA regions.

Winning Pitches

Entoprotech

Main | Entoprotech

Entoprotech develops biological pesticides based on food waste. They use the black soldier fly to convert food waste into advanced products such as defatted insect meal, which is used as animal feed and is also used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.

Representative: Sasha Babitsky

Country: Israel

Domain: Food

Year founded: 2016

Market: Food waste

Startup: Gazelle Wind Power Limited

About | Gazelle Wind Power

Gazelle’s designed a hybrid attenuated mooring platform, an evolutionary step-change in the design of floating platforms. Lighter, smaller and more agile than current designs, the Gazelle delivers unmatched stability and capacity. Moreover, our design benefits from modularization, time-tested manufacturing processes, and can easily be assembled at port facilities worldwide.

Representative: Jon Salazar

Country: UAE

Domain: Energy

Year founded: 2020

Market: Energy generation, energy transition

To watch the fierce pitch battle showdowns of Get in the Ring Expo Dubai starring the most promising impact solutions from three continents, visit: https://youtu.be/fOOLSSCGcS4