Extreme Tech Challenge Announces 2021 Special Awards Winners Headed to Global Finals

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), the world’s largest startup competition for purpose-driven tech innovation, announced today four Special Awards Winners selected to compete at the XTC 2021 Global Finals presented by TechCrunch on July 22, 2021.

Tech startups, venture capitalists, corporate innovation executives, policymakers, philanthropists, researchers, and academia around the world are invited to register now for this free event to the public to be held virtually on July 22.

80 startup finalists competed across seven fields including Agtech & Foodtech; Cleantech & Energy; Edtech; Enabling Tech; Fintech; Healthtech; and Mobility & Smart Cities. In addition to the seven Category Winners announced, four Special Awards Winners were chosen because their innovations highlight the topical tech trends, promote diversity, and align with current events.

The Special Award Winners are:

• Female Founder Award: The Live Green Co. is building a proprietary technology platform, Charaka, to replace not only the animal but also the synthetic and ultra-processed ingredients in food products with 100% natural, functional and sustainable plant alternatives at ten times R&D speed and savings. Its vision is to reimagine all the food products on supermarket shelves at scale using Charaka, to disrupt the way the world eats.

• COVID-19 Innovation Award: Sunfox is a medtech R&D company building smartphone-based portable, minimalistic and affordable cardiac diagnostic tools with cloud-enabled analytics. Its flagship product is the world’s smartest ICU monitor that allows physicians to manage patients remotely in scale. In COVID times, this device has helped to save lives in India.

• Ethical AI Award: Vitalk leverages AI-powered chatbots to make mental healthcare more accessible in Latin America. Vitalk currently works with employers and insurance companies in Brazil and is set to expand to other countries next year.

• People’s Choice Award: PathGen Diagnostik Teknologi disrupts the molecular diagnostics market for cancer through inclusive, robust, and affordable platforms. With a strong ecosystem of academic-business-government-community partnership, PathGen seeks to democratize precision medicine, especially in developing countries, and enable molecular diagnostics for all.

“Each year, we establish several XTC Special Awards to recognize outstanding startups in solving specific challenges of the moment and to address our partners’ interests. We are thrilled to announce this year’s Special Awards Winners who are catalysts in driving transformative changes to create an equitable, diverse, inclusive, healthy and prosperous world,” said Victoria Slivkoff, Executive Managing Director of Extreme Tech Challenge.

“So many startups were deserving of these accolades this year. All 80 Global Finalists are winners in their own right. It is deeply gratifying to me personally and professionally to continue supporting them with the resources and the global network of XTC to further their impact,” said Slivkoff.

The seven XTC Category and four Special Award Winners will take center stage at the Extreme Tech Challenge 2021 Global Finals presented by TechCrunch to pitch to a judging panel of world-renown corporate executives and investors where one startup will be crowned the Global Winner of XTC 2021. The event will also feature investor panels on key technology and investment trends in sustainability and will end with live virtual networking.

About Extreme Tech Challenge

Extreme Tech Challenge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation whose mission is to empower startups creating new tech innovations to address global challenges. It is the world’s largest ecosystem and competition for purpose-driven technology inspired by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Extreme Tech Challenge™ competition is supported by leading corporations, venture capital investors, foundations, policymakers, universities and tech conferences to give exceptional startups the potential for global visibility, the opportunity to raise capital, the ability to network with global leaders, and access to world-class mentorship to help them pioneer technological breakthroughs that address our most extreme global challenges. A complete list of XTC partners and how to join can be found at www.extremetechchallenge.org.