All roads lead to Amsterdam

The Chivas Venture finale is set to kick off on the 24 May 2018 at Europe’s leading tech festival - TNW Conference in Amsterdam. The conference brings together technology networks driving business innovation, and it is there that one finalist will be selected as the overall winner of the global entrepreneur competition, walking away with a portion of $1 million.

In preparation for the finale, South African finalist Clement Mokoenene, recently joined 26 finalists from across the globe in an intensive Acceleration Week at Oxford University in England, where they received one-to-one pitch coaching and social business mentoring by experts from the highly esteemed Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.

Mokoenene’s winning business idea called Vehicle Energy Harvesting System (VEHS) is a concept that was sparked when Mokoenene watched an aeroplane landing, and started thinking about the pressure and heat that was generated. He realised that any energy generated could be harvested, and converted into electricity. His system does just that, and has the potential to generate low cost electricity which could be accessible in even the most rural communities.

“We are very proud of Clement and his business idea, it has a real heart for the community and is sure to do well in Amsterdam. As tough as it’s going to be, I’m confident he will fly the South African flag high” says Shelley Reeves, marketing manager at Chivas Regal South Africa.

Mokoenene’s very clever lateral thinking drew a connection between road pressure, aeroplanes and electricity generation, which truly impressed the judges at the South African leg of the competition.

During the final week (20 May -25 May 2018) the finalist will pitch their hearts out in front of thousands of international entrepreneurs, tech addicts and potential investors, until only the top 5 remain.

They will then pitch for the remaining $800K; $750K of which will be decided by the judges which include tech entrepreneur and seven-time Grammy Award® winner, Will.I.Am. The remaining $50K will be by the audience. The TWN conference will also offer finalists an opportunity to network with potential investors and mentors providing added value.

Livestream the event at https://thenextweb.com and support our finalist!

For up to date coverage follow our social pages @ChivasRegalSA.