The winners of an Innovative Tech Startup Challenge implemented by the Cambodia University of Technology and Science (CamTech) have been announced, after 11 participating teams pitched innovative solutions to harness technology to address Cambodia’s sustainable development challenges.
The first prize of US$3,500 was awarded to Tamdan, an AI-powered mobile application that allows parents to follow up with their children's schooling progression. Volts, an advanced device to monitor, analyze, and forecast the consumption of electrical energy in households or firms, was awarded the second prize of US$2,500. In third place came Uniflow, an AI-powered stock management software with the ability to forecast supply and demand, claiming a prize of US$2,000. Moreover, all participating teams were awarded a runner up prize of US$1,000.
The pitch event was attended by over 120 participants, including high level representatives from the Cambodian Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, senior representatives from prominent tech universities in Cambodia, local investors, start ups, major corporations and members of business associations.
The high-profile event marked the culmination of a four-month startup and entrepreneurship training programme on sustainable business solutions for the 11 teams of aspiring entrepreneurs, which kicked off in April 2023. Notably, among the 48 participating team members, 69 per cent were women. To explore the role of women in digital entrepreneurship, a panel discussion among four Cambodian women tech entrepreneurs was facilitated during the pitching event.
As a result of the initiative, CamTech startup teams were invited by the University Incubator Consortium (UNIIC) to pitch and compete in an upcoming competition hosted by the Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 20 – 22 September 2023. All of the participating teams will go on to participate in a data hackathon event known as My Rapid Hack hosted by the University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) between 23 – 24 September 2023.
Resulting from a partnership between CamTech University, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) programme - Catalysing Women’s Entrepreneurship (CWE), and Khmer Enterprise (KE), the goal of the initiative is to incubate and provide seed funding to new tech startups to foster an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cambodia.
