BiD Challenge Award Event 2007

Amsterdam, December 4th.

Bicycle carts in Malawi, Patagonian furniture from Argentina and healthy organic fruit snacks from Cameroon. The finalists of the BiD Challenge 2007 showed their creativity and ability to combine business with poverty reduction at the BiD Challenge 2007 Award Event and Marketplace. Out of the 2275 entrepreneurs from 144 countries that competed in the BiD Challenge 2007, a respected jury selected 38 finalists. These finalists were invited to the Netherlands to compete for the BiD Challenge Awards 2007 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After a tense finale on December 4th, the jury awarded 17 entrepreneurs with a prize in 3 different categories. With their prize, the winners can start building their dream: to start their business and contribute to the sustainable development of their country. The Marketplace and Investor pitches were made possible by Rabobank Foundation.

Start-Up Category

First prize winner in the category Start-up Business is Australian Ben Cole. He received an amount of €20,000 for his business plan "Fresh Facemasks". Cole aims to produce protective and comfortable commuter facemasks for the Vietnam market, where people suffer from high pollution. With his business, Cole will provide a supportive and empowering workplace for women with HIV and AIDS.

The jury praised Coles business plan for its strength and simplicity. "I received very good feedback on my plan from my BiD Challenge coach Mr. Bas Maenen from ING. Having him as a coach really helped me in writing a good business plan. Given the strong competition I faced, I never thought I would win though. Winning this prize gives me a lot of trust and energy to continue my business".

Established Category

In the category Established Businesses the first prize of €20,000 went to Laure Yosse from Cameroon and her business plan "Organic Health Snacks from Exotic Fruits". The business organizes farmers to produce organic fruits to be processed into healthy snacks for the world market. Many Cameroonian farmers will benefit from the business.

Satellite Category

In the 3rd category, the main prize winners of the 7 national BiD Challenge competitions that were launched this year on a national level by our local partner organisations in Peru, Argentina, Colombia, India, the Philippines, Kenya and Tanzania, competed for the BiD Challenge Satellite Awards. The first and second prize winners of each national competition were invited to come to the Netherlands to present their plan to the international jury. In this category the main prize went to Tanzanian Victor Mfinanga and his business Shambani Graduates Enterprises Company Ltd. The business collects fresh milk from about 100 Massai cattle keepers and processes it into high quality milk products, before selling it to the local market.

Prizes

The BiD Challenge jury awarded a total of 17 prizes between €5000 and €20,000.

At the event, a special prize of €15,000 was awarded by Plan Nederland. The award went to the crew of Nação for having the plan that makes the most difference to the livelihoods of children and youth. Nação is a Brazilian graffiti crew that has grown into an all round design agency. Nação runs the first graffiti gallery of Rio de Janeiro.

Special Thanks

Special thanks goes out to the BiD Challenge partners that made an extra contribution to the BiD Challenge Finalist Week: Airtrade for flights, ING lease and Oostenrijk Touringcars for transportation, the d.o.b. foundation for the finalist weekend and training, VDS for training, Hotel Arena and Crown Plaza Schiphol for accommodation and Canal Company for a lovely canal cruise.

Go to the winners of the BiD Challenge 2007
Go to the Photo Gallery