Picture this: November in Paris, a city known for its romance and cheeses that require a nose peg, but on this occasion, the capital of fashion was abuzz with a different kind of excitement – the Overseas Innovation Awards. Now, if you’re thinking it’s all about berets and baguettes, hold onto your croissants because the show-stealers this year are three Guyanese trailblazers: Mike Veldwatcher’s Private Cashless, Fabien Granger’s Amazon’Hydro Force, and Anthony Leveillé’s Leila. These finalists are not just breaking the mold; they are reshaping it, each with a vision that transforms everyday challenges into groundbreaking solutions.
The Overseas Innovation Awards 2024, hosted from November 18 to 22 in Paris, spotlighted innovative projects from the territories beyond France. This prestigious event honored several groundbreaking initiatives, including three finalists from Guyana.
Meet the bright minds:
- Mike Veldwatcher: Competing in ‘Leisure, Culture, and Crafts’ with Private Cashless FWI. It’s a cashless payment solution linking festival-goers’ bank cards directly to their wristbands, providing an innovative payment method even in areas without internet.
- Fabien Granger: Presenting in ‘Cleantech’ with his venture, Amazon’Hydro Force. By harnessing the power of water with innovative surface hydroturbines, Granger’s project aims to offer carbon-friendly renewable energy solutions.
- Anthony Leveillé: Competing in the ‘Start’ category with Leila, a data collection tool. It’s designed to visually represent field data in a manner that aids decision-making for industrial teams. His start-up aims to extend its impact from Guyana to other regions.
The finalists gain valuable experience and networking opportunities, setting their sights on expanding into international markets.
overseas innovation awards spotlighting private cashless
The Overseas Innovation Awards make waves, and this year is no different, with Private Cashless among the finalists. Hatching right from the mesmerizing Caribbean landscape, this brainchild of Mike Veldwatcher stands out with an innovative payment system aiming to transform cultural events in the Antilles and Guyana. Who needs a handful of change when your cash is conveniently strapped to your wrist? Inspired by bracelets, this mechanism ensures instant, secure payments even sans internet. Imagine living life like you’re at a never-ending festival, minus the food stands running out of nachos. But possibly with nachos.
One of the greatest achievements for Private Cashless includes equipping 23,000 spectators with this tech marvel during a Kalash concert in Martinique. Whoever manages to channel the crowd’s excitement into quick payments deserves a golden star sticker from Professor Techno-Pioneer. This innovation is born from a sheer will to localize tech in the region. Kudos to Mike, for not just thinking outside the box but rather jumping entirely out of it, spinning it around, and giving it a bracelet to boot. It’s like playing a one-man game of Monopoly but actually fun.
amazon’hydro force and its splash in the renewable energy sector
Next in line, wave hello to Amazon’Hydro Force. Founded by Fabien Granger, this startup taps into nature’s very core – the formidable flow of water. Their creation: highly adaptable hydrolienne systems that don’t just glide through water, they glide through energy discussions with finesse. One could say they’re bringing electricity in, without the grounding of environmental concerns—literally. It’s a bit like finding Atlantis and selling bottled seawater on eBay, only with significantly less myth and significantly more green energy.
data collection reimagined with leila
Then there is Leila, a prodigious nerd in a sea of paper-pushing dullness. Co-founded by Anthony Leveillé and Christopher Servius, this software gets a fancy spotlight in the « start » category. « Collected data, » they say like two bespectacled heroes ready to save the world—one data point at a time. They’re catering to local industries, feeding them much-needed insights so executive decisions are no longer based solely on crystal ball readings or guessing games.
Leila’s agenda is crystal clear: capture data, transform it into graphs, get those insights flowing right from the taps and let Guyana sip on intelligence like it’s a refreshing tropical cocktail. Encouraging expansion from the Guyanes plateau to African terrains, they’re slightly different from your typical startup friends, more like the Gordon Ramsay of tech saying, « It’s raw! » when looking at unsaturated plots of land. If efficiency had a sidekick – it’s Leila.
