PMI Open Innovation Challenge

Accelerating our Ecosystem to design a Smoke-Free Future

GRAND FINALE

After 4 months of hardwork, we have finally concluded the PMI Open Innovation Challenge on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at the Aberdeen Marina Club, Hong Kong. Our top 5 finalists travelled from all over South and Southeast Asia to Hong Kong to pitch directly in front of the jury and regional management team of Philip Morris International (PMI). The 5 finalists were:
 
  1. Datacultr (India)
  2. Envolve (Singapore)
  3. Fairbanc (Indonesia)
  4. Snapcart (Indonesia)
  5. Social Light Inc. (Philippines)
 
Thanks to our finalists, the pitching session was full of energy and innovation that sparked the curious minds of the PMI team. In the end, the jury had a tough decision to make and thus concluded:

Grand First Prize
US $30,000

Congratulations to Social Light Inc. (represented by Francis Simisim, President/CEO) for winning first place and taking home US $30,000 Cash Contribution, presented by Roman Yazbeck, VP External Affairs & Business Development, S&SA Region, PMI; Venture Partner, PM Equity Partner.
 

Second Place Prize
US $20,000

Congratulations to Datacultr (represented by Neel Juriasingani, CEO & Co-Founder) for being placed second and taking home US $20,000 Cash Contribution, presented by Roman Yazbeck, VP External Affairs & Business Development, S&SA Region, PMI; Venture Partner, PM Equity Partner.


Top 5 Finalists

In addition, all the finalists are in consideration for equity investment from PMAL and PM Equity Partners. Congratulations to the rest of the finalists: Brett Mather and Damien Kopp from Envolve, Reynazran Royono from Snapcart, and Jonathan Zax from Fairbanc.
 

Congratulations!

Thank you to all the startups that have participated in this challenge and the PMI team for pushing to innovate to accelerate our ecosystem to create a smoke-free future. We hope to see you in the next edition!