Indian Student Entrepreneurs Win Award for Green Innovation | Source: IndiaWest, Nov 19, 2012
BERKELEY, Calif., United States
Greenway Grameen Infra, a team of student entrepreneurs from India, recently won the 8th annual Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley, a global business plan competition that encourages student entrepreneurs to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues and rewards innovative ideas that could make a positive impact on society.
The winning team of entrepreneurs, who received the grand prize of $50,000, created efficient, biomass-based cooking solutions.
The team from Greenway Grameen Infra, who received the grand prize of $50,000, have created efficient, biomass-based cooking solutions.
In India and elsewhere around the globe, indoor open fires and traditional mud stoves are still used for cooking by nearly 3 billion people, leading to negative impacts on the environment and economy. The team’s flagship product, the Greenway Smart Stove, incorporates a unique air-flow generator that saves fuel consumption by up to 65 percent and reduces smoke output by 70 percent.
Since it commercially launched in December 2011, Greenway Grameen Infra has sold more than 12,000 units. The company plans to add two new stove designs and a waste heat-to-electricity converter to its product line.
The competition, held at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, drew 25 teams from 16 countries. The finalist teams were selected from more than 150,000 students from more than 50 countries who competed in 14 affiliate competitions.
