Chivas Regal’s “The Venture”, is an international contest open to social entrepreneurs who are using their business as a force for good.

With a dedicated fund of $1M, “The Venture” is striving to enable social entrepreneurs around the world to scale and gain exposure.

Chivas Venture had over 6,000 applications for The 2017 Contest, 30 finalists were shortlisted from 30 countries, to the Grand Finale in Los Angeles in the Quarter Finals

Chioma Ukonu represented Nigeria, after she won the Nigerian edition in November 2016.

The 30 became 10, after 20 contestants were eliminated in the keenly contested challenge. Chioma Ukonu saw it to The Top 10 (Semi Finals), and then made The Finals . The top 5 pitched to the judges including star actress Halle Berry.

After their pitch, the final allocation of the $750,000 was awarded to our finalists in the following order:

1st place: Siam Organic, receiving $400,000
2nd place: RecyclePoints, receiving $200,000
Joint 3rd place: Bioestibas, iDrop and Intendu, each receiving $50,000

Chioma also gathered a total of $5774.67 from the $250,000 that was set aside by Chivas venture, to be earned through voting. They really leveraged Social media in soliciting for votes.

Here’s a brief profile of the Finalists, obtained from the Chivas venture blog:

Álvaro Vásquez, Bioestibas
Bioestibas produces ecological stowage made with flower waste that would normally be polluting the environment. Today the production of pallets for industrial needs causes 40% of global deforestation. At the same time flower growers around Medellin, Colombia, generate over 9,000 tons of flower stems per month. These stems are incinerated, causing huge environmental pollution. Bioestibas aims to solve these two problems through ecological pallets.

Chioma Ukonu, RecyclePoints
RecyclePoints is enabling individuals, particularly from low-income households, to create value from their everyday waste. Operating an incentive-based model which collects recyclable waste materials from registered households, RecyclePoints rewards them with points which they can accumulate and redeem for cash or other useful items offered through the iRecycle Store.

Peetachai Dejkraisak, Siam Organic
Currently Thailand’s 17 million rice farmers have the highest costs and lowest yields of all countries in Southeast Asia. They earn an average of just 40 cents a day, six times below the poverty line. Siam Organics created the Jasberry brand to help farmers unlock the global market for healthy organic products. Providing them with training on internationally-certified organic farming methods, Siam Organics enables farmers to increase their earnings by 14 times.

Son Preminger, Intendu
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide suffer from brain impairments caused by traumatic brain injury, strokes, diseases or aging; yet due to the high cost of rehabilitation therapy, they are often sent home without any tools to continue their cognitive training once they have left the hospital. Intendu have developed a videogames platform specifically designed for brain training. The games involve dynamic scenarios and body movement that mirror real life, and their technology adapts in real-time to the user’s needs.

James Steere, iDrop
iDrop installs purification and dispensing units at the point of sale. Shoppers refill water containers, reducing plastic waste, and it is very affordable – up to 80% cheaper than bottled water. Meanwhile, the water supply comes at no cost to retailers, and iDrop monitor units remotely to keep maintenance costs low. iDrop split revenue with retailers, driving economic activity in local communities.

We say Congrats to Chioma for making Africa Proud!