172877_APEX_Global Book_REV PROOF 7-24

Updates on Some of the Past Global Challenge Finalists

Codable, University of Kent, United Kingdom, 2018 Finalist: Codable continues to progress with the development of its platform, a recruitment site with an emphasis on soft skills and personality traits designed tohelp students, graduates andprofessionals find their ideal jobswithin the IT sector. Sybil Mayard completed the first year of her Master's degree in September 2018. She anticipates

Codable’s website launch in September 2019, just in time for the new academic year. The website will be promoted at career fairs and “Freshers' Fairs around the UK,'' as well. Her team member, Olcay Kilincci, founded “Myeducoach” in February 2019 and is a representative of the University Kent in Turkey. Olcay serves as a liaison to help Turkish universities and foreign universities from the United Kingdom, United States and Canada collaborate, access students, strengthen their institutional ties, and understand the Turkish education market. Learn more at www.myeducoach.com.

$25,000 Grand Prize Winner in 2017 Cohex , Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Chile Maurizio Canessa, Luckas Fonck, Josefa Villanueva

In 2018, Cohex used some of its initial winnings to hire an assistant to implement key experiments on its prototype, a system designed to maintain the perfect humidity level during fruit exportation, which helps to reduce loss and improve fruit quality. Currently, Cohex is seeking private investment opportunities (while managing full-time jobs) in order to be able to pursue final validation testing on its concept. The team continues to develop the technology, pursue material research and the patent process, both nationally and internationally. $5,000 People’s Choice Winner in 2017 Nexenic , ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland Astrid Besmer, Reto Muhl, Claudio Ruiz Da Silva After the VT Global Entrepreneur Challenge, Team Nexenic entered the "RUNWAY" Startup Incubator of its university, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences. It added team member, Johannes Hofer, to assist with marketing strategy. With the prize money, Nexenic began working on its second prototype, and in April 2018, it officially incorporated it into its business. Nexenic also developed the steasy®, a smart and portable steamer in the size of a lunchbox that fits in every handbag, does not leak and comes with a rechargeable integrated battery. The team launched its prototypes and products on Kickstarter in November 2018. Learn more at https://nexenic.com.

Tekuma, University of Technology Sydney, Australia, 2017 Finalist: Tekuma, the one-handed controller company, relocated to Adelaide, South Australia. In 2018, the team was a finalist in the China Shenzhen Innovation Entrepreneurship Competition; went to New York with FD Global's Female Founders Program; received third place in the THero Brinc ‘Are You China Ready?’

Guangzhou competition; won the NextGen Logistics category at the University Startup World Cup in Copenhagen; and made its first sales in August 2018. The move to Adelaide was prompted by acceptance into the University of South Australia's Venture Catalyst Space Program, which has allowed Tekuma to pursue the defense and space industries in South Australia. The team continues to bootstrap and maintain all equity among original founders, Annette and Michael. Learn more at http://tekuma.tech.

$10,000 VT KnowledgeWorks Information Technology Award in 2016 Sitemate , University of Technology Sydney, Australia Hartley Pike, Samuel McDonnell, Tommaso Armstrong, Jan Schroeder

Sitemate, a project management startup focused on the construction industry, closed a $1.3 million funding round in September 2018 to fuel its next phase of growth. Sitemate was formerly named “Construction Cloud” and launched out of the University of Sydney’s UTS Startups program in 2015 by civil engineer Hartley Pike and co-founder SamMcDonnell. The Sitemate platform offers shared workflow documents for industrial projects, including financial documents, commercial record-keeping and environmental and safety workflows. Since the 2016 VT Global Entrepreneur Challenge, the team has grown from its three founders to hiring four more employees, while its user base continues to grow in over 100 countries. The team launched its first product, Dashpivot, in August 2018, which allows industrial businesses to build and access all their organization's cross-functional processes in one platform. Learn more at www.sitemate.com.

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