Saudi Arabia’s Plastus wins $250,000 prize at LEAP23
The startup won at LEAP23 Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Challenge, a collaboration of Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the MiSK Foundation, and NTDP.
Saudi Arabia-based startup has bagged the main prize worth $250,000 at LEAP23 Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Challenge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Plastus competed with 90 global startups in the challenge.
Plastus produces fully biodegradable bioplastics through the fermentation of bacteria. These bioplastics fully degrade in the environment within two months but come with a shelf life of two years, as per a Wired report.
The annual challenge is organised by a collaboration of the Kingdom’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the MiSK Foundation, and the National Technology Development Program.
The 90 competing startups were further reduced to 12 finalists who had to pitch before a panel of judges. This year, the panel included Saudi angel investor Tala Al Jabri, Shark Tank India’s Ghazal Alagh, Baroness Karren Brady CBE - aide to The Apprentice’s Alan Sugar, Dragons’ Den stars James Caan, and Steven Bartlett.
Among other awards, Rwanda’s Bag Innovation secured the early-stage startup prize while Saudi Arabia’s Takadao bagged the Aviatrix Award for the most innovative startup pioneered by women. Nigerian startup Wicrypt was recognised as the most impressive startup in the Metaverse and Web3 domains, and Saudi-based JMM Innovations won the Alibaba Cloud Saudi Hackathon.
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Edited by Teja Lele