The nominees in the 2018 edition of the The Hague Innovators Challenge were just announced at Leiden University’s Campus The Hague. Thirty-seven participants submitted their proposal, of which nine have now officially been nominated as contestant by our selection committee. They are in the race to become The Hague Innovator of 2018.
Selection committee member Lieke Kempen describes the atmosphere tonight as “animated and ambitious”. She says, “This competition offers the nominees the opportunity to win a nice amount of money to kickstart their idea. I’ve seen many great ideas tonight. I can’t wait to find out which of the nominees will join the series of The Hague Innovators early next year”.
The City of The Hague aims to encourage startups, organizations and students to present new ideas on tackling current global challenges. It does so by organizing the annual The Hague Innovators Challenge. Idea owners are encouraged to invest their prize money in experimentation. Deputy Mayor Karsten Klein explains, “To come up with new solutions, startups and students need room to experiment. In The Hague, we believe in and want to encourage the notion of experimentation. It all starts with an idea and the willingness to challenge the status quo.”
Drum roll: And the nominees are
Nominated are: YAPILI Health@Hand, The Smart Insect Farm Collective: The Next Cuisine, V.I.E.T.S., A trust-based network of qualified disaster responders, De Ideeëngenerator, and DOK Den Haag. In the student category, the nominees are: Myco Cyco Pavilion, Drive & Deliver, and Architecture of Cure: Healing Pod. We congratulate all nominees and look forward to seeing their ideas develop over the weeks to come.
What’s next
The nine nominees will continue to work on the development of their plans. As part of their nomination, they will receive two workshops, a video clip that highlights their project, and overall media attention. Early January, they will submit their final plans to the The Hague Innovators Challenge professional jury. The jury members will then go on to select the winners of this year’s challenge. Four prizes are there for the taking: first prize (€30,000), second prize (€20,000), the public prize (€5,000), and the student prize (€10,000). The prize winners will be announced by Deputy Mayor Karsten Klein on Big Improvement Day on 16 January 2018.
Interested to stay up-to-date? Check back here to stay informed on our contestants’ progress. We will be featuring their concepts here in the weeks to come. Interested to read more on the progress of our previous The Hague Innovators? Read about 2017 winners, Hack the Planet and Budgently. And learn more about 2016 winners Naïf and Noordzeeboerderij.
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