Design News, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship, Innovation Design

This year, ERGO partnered with Cairo University and Youthinkgreen-Egypt, in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry, to promote entrepreneurship in Egypt, and identify untapped opportunities in industrial waste management. Over four months, ERGO worked with 100 entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions that take advantage of neglected waste in Egypt’s industrial capital ‘10th of Ramadan’. This post is to highlight the great work of both the participants and Youthinkgreen team, who worked relentlessly to make this an unforgettable experience, and bring about true innovations in waste management.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

With one hundred vetted, passionate young men and women, the program commenced in April by providing participants with design thinking, business modeling and industrial wast management training, over a seven day period. Participants were then given a specific waste challenge which they worked on for over two weeks, and pitched their ideas and solutions to a panel of judges. The judges then selected fifty participants to continue through the program. Those participants would later form ten teams who would collaborate and compete for the following four months for finding market desirable, technologically feasible and business viable solutions to industrial waste challenges in Egypt.

Over the course of those four months, each of those ten teams worked with a particular factory in the industrial zone to find sustainable solutions for their waste challenges. During that time, all teams continued to receive training in diverse areas of entrepreneurship, sustainable development and industrial waste management. Training sessions included prototyping, market segmentation, consumer needs and behavior, business modeling, business strategy, product and market validation, financial management, team building and idea pitching. At the end of the program, the teams pitched their ideas and business models to a panel of judges in a room of over 250 people. Here are my top three picks in no particular order.

G-Fit

G-Fit is a whey-based sports recovery drink, produced from excess whey produced during cheese manufacturing process. The product aims to tackle performance challenges facing athletes during and post workout. During exercise, carbohydrates and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, and magnesium) are depleted with high rates which leads to dehydration, fatigue, muscle cramps, and reduced performance. G-Fit is an isotonic beverage that naturally contains a suitable formulation of electrolytes, carbohydrates and essential amino acids all in one drink. Compared to water, G-Fit is specially made to boost energy level, decrease the risk of water intoxication, keep your body hydrated and thirst quenched, as well as helping in muscle recovery.

Lanatus

Lanatus is a protein bar, produced from powders extracted from melon rinds and cantaloupe/honeydew seeds. The bar supplement is rich in both slow and fast digested protein. It is produced in several delicious tastes with lower carbs and fats content than other products in the local market. Lanatus also contain higher protein content than competitor brands, offering a healthy, lean muscle build, all at a competitive market price, especially against imported alternatives.

VWaste

VWaste transforms orange waste into high quality raw orange peel powder and export it to Europe for pectin production. Pectin is used in food as a gelling agent in jams and jellies. It is also used in dessert fillings, medicines, sweets, as a stabilizer in fruit juices and milk-based drinks, and as a source of dietary fiber. VWaste model helps reduce carbon footprint for agro-industrial waste in Egypt through eco-friendly recycling, all while adding a revenue stream to the juicing industry from selling their waste.

More Innovation

Other amazing teams are working on producing bio diesel form cooking oil, producing gluten-free flour from mango seed kernel, producing pomegranate powder from pomegranate membrane, and pomegranate tea from pomegranate skin. My judging criteria focused on Product and Market Validation, Level of Innovation, Financial Viability and Scalability, Technical Feasibility, and Quality of Pitch. All ten teams did a great job throughout this journey, and they all witnessed both their skills and characters tremendously grow in such a short period of time. All made possible because of the great effort by the organizing team at Youthinkgreen.

A Shout-out to Youthinkgreen Team

It is worthy to mention that the team responsible for all this planning is a group of volunteers whose age range from 20 – 24 years old. I have to say that I was utterly impressed by the set of skills those young women and men demonstrated over the course of the program. They did not just show dedication, vigor, audacity, and self-efficacy, but they did so in the most professional and collaborative spirit you could only hope to see in future leaders of our society. Special admiration goes to Shadwa Alaa, Nada Bahaa, Mohamed Mazen, Loai Awny, Abdel Rahman Fahmy, Yahya Elharony, Omar Ashour and Abdel Rahman El Gammal. Those guys and the rest of the team set a great example of how passion and dedication can change life’s paths.

Innovation is a Lifeboat

Stemming from our belief that innovation is a lifeboat, ERGO collaborates with local and international organizations to design and facilitate innovation bootcamps and hackathons to design human-centered solutions to some of our society’s most complex challenges. To learn more about our services, please get in touch and let us start the conversation.

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