PassionIT News

Banco Santander has announced the six winning projects in the Santander X Global Award, an international university entrepreneurship competition developed by Santander Universities and with the support of the Oxentia Foundation, with the aim of promoting innovation in universities.

More than 800 university start-ups participating in the local Santander X awards in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain, Mexico and the United Kingdom were candidates to take part in this international award. Only the 36 most innovative were selected to complete for this accolade, representing their countries and universities. 

The award, which amounts to €60,000 in cash, is divided into two categories: Launch, for entrepreneurial projects in the preparation phase of their go-to-market strategy, 20,000 euros (10,000 for the first prize and 5,000 for the second and third prizes). And the other category; Accelerate, for high-impact technology start-ups in their acceleration and sustainable growth phases, 40,000 euros: 20,000 euros for first place and 10,000 euros for second and third place.

In the Launch Category, the first prize goes to Spanish project KronoSafe, from Miguel Hernández University (Elche, Valencia, Spain), an initiative that seeks to increase the safety and efficacy of Temporary Stimulation, avoiding unnecessary ICU admissions. The second prize goes to the United Kingdom's Deploy, from Imperial College London, a project featuring a water tank designed to increase access to water in hard-to-reach places. And the third prize goes to Mexican project Agriicola, from Autónoma de Guadalajara University, for their system that employs management, satellite monitoring and artificial intelligence to reduce disease and the environmental footprint caused by agriculture.

According to Paul Mendieta, CEO of the British project Deploy: "As we progress at universities we realise the challenges and issues that the world must deal with. This is why programmes such as Santander X Global Challenge are crucial, because they are not only providing support but also highlighting how students see these challenges and the way in which they are going to address them". 

In addition, the three winners selected will receive a scholarship to attend a training programme tailored to the startup phase, in order to get their businesses ready for market entry.

In the Accelerate category, the first prize goes to the project hailing from Argentina, Háblalo, from IAE Business School, a free multi-tool that helps facilitate communication for more than 200,000 hearing impaired users in 65 countries. The second prize goes to Medu, from La Salle México University, a project which proposes a solution for the protection of healthcare personnel based on economical and sustainable uniforms.  Finally, the third prize goes to Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, a company affiliated with Valencia University, focused on the sampling and analysis of microbiota in any type of habitat, using advanced culture techniques and massive sequencing.