Team from India Wins Intel Award at Haas; Alumna’s Team Takes Best-of-Category Prize

Greenway Grameen Infra, a team of student entrepreneurs from India, won the eighth annual Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley, a competition that rewards student entrepreneurs who tackle some of the world's most pressing issues with innovative ideas.

Nanoly Bioscience, a team that includes alumna Nanxi Liu, BS 12, took home a $15,000 best-of-category prize at the competition finals Thursday night.

Held at the Haas School, the competition is a joint project of Intel and the business school's Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. The Intel Foundation awarded $100,000 total in cash prizes.

"We deeply appreciate the support of Intel and the Intel Foundation to bring all these incredible young entrepreneurs from around the world to network, learn, and compete here at UC Berkeley," says Andre Marquis, the Lester Center's Executive Director. "It's inspiring to hear their stories and see the vision of this next great generation of global, entrepreneurial leaders."

The winning team of entrepreneurs, which took home $50,000, 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 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. The startup has sold more than 12,000 stoves since its commercial launch in December 2011 and plans to expand its product line.


Intel Challenge winners Ankit Mathur and Neha Juneja, co-founders of Greenway Grameen Infra of India, which makes a more efficient and environmentally friendly stove.

Nanoly Bioscience was one of three best-of-category winning teams that each received $15,000. Nanoly Bioscience developed a protective shield that stabilizes vaccines and eliminates the need for refrigeration, allowing vaccines to be shipped virtually anywhere.


Andre Marquis, executive director of the Lester Center for Entreprenuership; Nanoly Bioscience team members Nanxi Liu, BS 12, and Peter Matheu; and Shelley Esque, president of the Intel Foundation and global director of Intel's Corporate Affairs Group.

Sustainable Agriculture Solutions of Colombia, another best-of-category winner, created sustainable farming solutions, including a fertilizer that increases efficiency by 40 percent over traditional alternatives. Avetics of Singapore, the third best-of-category winner, invented an autonomous mini-plane with a computerized control board that takes high-resolution photographs for aerial maps.

In addition, two prizes of $2,500 were awarded to the winning teams of a social media challenge and an audience favorite contest. Besides cash prizes, winning teams received invaluable mentoring and feedback from Silicon Valley's leading venture capitalists.

"This year, we saw impressive innovations in fields including healthcare, mobile app development and energy conservation," said Shelly Esque, president of the Intel Foundation and global director of Intel's Corporate Affairs Group. "These student entrepreneurs from around the world have developed first-class business plans ranging from improved reliability for cancer diagnoses to the production of inexpensive, more efficient solar cells."

The competition drew 25 finalist teams from 16 countries. These finalist teams were selected from more than 150,000 students from more than 50 countries who competed in 14 affiliate competitions. The competition is designed to motivate young entrepreneurs to develop innovative technologies that solve real-world challenges, build viable business models, and move that technology out of university labs and into the market.

Andre Marquis, executive director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship, with alumna Nanxi Liu, BS 12
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