A GROUP of students from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños won first place in the Venture Building Challenge of the International Food and Agribusiness Association 2023 World Conference in New Zealand.

Team Hiraya, composed of Angela Flora, Arielle Nicolas, and Charlyn Joergette Triñanes, were recognized “for their imagination to create a market pathway for an emerging science or technology innovation.”

The students are from the Department of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship of the College of Economics and Management.

They were mentored by CEM-DAME faculty members Maria Noriza Herrera, Fitz Jimenez, Remund Jordan Labios and Cris Edwin Bonalos.

UPLB said the team was commended by Jack Keeys, the director of implementation of The Aotearoa Circle and one of the conference chairmen, for the exceptional writing in their paper.

During the preliminary round, the teams were divided into two time zones and given different research cases of an emerging science or technology innovation.

“They were given four hours to make a one-page brief and 12-minute video demonstrating an avenue to market the innovation. The top two teams selected from each time zone proceeded to the championship round on June 18,” the university said.

“The top teams were subsequently made to work on a new research case for the championship round with their videos shown during the E Tipu IFAMA 2023 World Forum,” it added.

Co-organized by the Sprout Agritech Accelerator and Bayer Crop Science, the Venture Building Challenge is an online-only competition aimed at tackling the global challenge of commercialization through the connection of research and entrepreneurship.