Winners by region

Noemi Florea is the inventor of Cycleau, a compact system that turns greywater into drinking water. Using a four-stage treatment process, it removes over 200 contaminants, reduces building water footprints by up to 80 per cent and lowers energy demand by more than a third, all at a fraction of the cost of conventional systems.

Joseph Nguthiru founded the Kenyan startup HyaPak, which produces biodegradable packaging from the pulp of water hyacinths, an invasive weed that covers much of Kenya’s Lake Naivasha.

Jinali Mody is the founder and CEO of Banofi Leather. The material-science startup is turning banana crop waste into a plant-based leather alternative. Made from banana stem fibre blended with natural binders and starches, the material looks, feels and even smells like animal leather.