Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs' Forum Held Entrepreneurship World Cup Nepal-Bhutan Joint National Finals 2021 For First Time in Nepal

The Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) Nepal-Bhutan joint national finals were held virtually by Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs' Forum (NYEF) for the first time in Nepal on 9th July, Friday.  

During the event, the top fourteen finalists pitched their startup ideas in the semi-final round to the juries. Among them, the top nine unique startups were selected for the final round. The top nine finalists that were selected for the final round were; Offermandu, Pad2Go, Nirman, Leaf Plus Pvt. Ltd, Plasmadd Enterprise, Jeevee Health Pvt. Ltd, Cheli Nepal, Worckhub, and The Green Road, the Green Road was the only application from Bhutan that got shortlisted. These top nine finalists competed in the final round with each other in front of the juries; where the winner, the first runner up, and the second runner up were announced.

There were seven experts of judges, in front of whom the top 9 unique startups pitched their ideas.

The panel of judges during the event were Mr. Rupesh Krishna Shrestha, the Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship & Marketing Kathmandu University School of Management and Co-Founder at Idea Studio Nepal; Mrs. Juna Mathema, the Co-founder and Managing Director at Blitz Media Private Limited; Mr. Udeep Shrestha, the Executive Director at Panchakanya group; Kiran Timsina, the CTO / Co-Founder at Urban Girl & UG Cakes; Mr. Nicholas Pandey, the Executive Director at Kalika Construction; Mrs. Sailaja Shrestha, the Director and HR Manager at Nawa Nepal Plastic Pvt. Ltd and Srijana plastic Udhyog; and Mrs. Prabina Ghimire, the Executive Director at Metals Cast Pvt.

The winner of the EWC Nepal-Bhutan Joint National finals 2021 was ‘The Green Road’ which was represented by founder and managing director, Rikesh Gurung. The Green Road is Bhutan’s first recycling company that utilizes waste plastic in the construction of durable and environmentally friendly roads. started in October 2014, the company has blacktopped 100 kilometers of road and reused 540 tons of waste plastics, and replaced the same in the consumption of bitumen.

The first runner-up of the EWC National finals was ‘Jeevee Health’ represented by the Founder/ CEO, Aabhushan Jyoti Kansakar. Jeevee is a Health Technology startup with the mission to improve healthcare services using technology. The second runner-up for the EWC Nepal-Bhutan Joint National finals was ‘Leaf plus’ represented by the Co-Founder and CEO, Kobit Singh Baniya. Leaf Plus thus is a socio-economic enterprise that is aimed at having an impactful contribution to the environment & society by producing and promoting areca leaf products manufactured with direct engagement of women, marginalized & farmer groups in the production chain

The winner of Entrepreneurship World Cup 2021 thus will get a chance to pitch on a global stage for a share of US$1 million in cash prizes plus additional investment opportunities and another US$750,000 in in-kind support. EWC is a global pitch competition with a shot at life-changing prizes. It elevates entrepreneurs from all stages: idea-stage, early-stage, growth-stage, or beyond by providing them with tools and resources to grow their venture.

In November 2021, among 100 startups, the national winner ‘The Green Road’  will be flown to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to participate in the EWC Accelerates program for an intensive startup boot camp and to compete in the EWC Global Finals.