Demo Day and Closing Ceremony attended by over 100 investors and senior experts from across the region
 
Dubai: The winners of the “2022 C3 Impact Accelerator – Powered by HSBC” awards have been announced after a final round of business pitches at HSBC’s UAE headquarters in Dubai.
 
Turkey’s BlindLook, empowering those with visual impairment by developing audio mapping technologies, came first, with the UAE’s Homeport Water Solutions, who provide natural water regeneration for agriculture, leisure and industrial businesses, in second, and Egypt’s iSchool, an education technology kids coding platform, in third. 
 
Given the quality and innovation of the pitches from all eight finalists, judges decided to add a fourth-place award, won by UAE-based Manhat, which focuses on delivering natural water distillation across the UAE. 
 
The awards were presented by Collin Lobo, Chief Compliance Officer for HSBC UAE and MENAT, Sabrin Rahman, Managing Director and Head of Sustainability for HSBC Europe and MENAT, Nasser Alshaali, Chairman of HSBC Egypt, as well as Medea Nocentini, Founder of C3. 
 
“For the past four years, our partnership with C3 has focused on showcasing companies with environmental and social impact at the heart of their business, and we are pleased with the progress to date. With the UN climate change conferences COP27 and 28 coming to Egypt and the UAE this year and next, the importance of supporting businesses in their sustainability journeys is in greater focus than ever here in the region,” said Sabrin Rahman. 
 
The eight shortlisted finalists, BlindLook, CWallet, FortyGuard, Homeport Water Solutions, iSchool, Manhat, MonkiBox and ONE MOTO, attended the awards ceremony to present their final pitches in front of a judging panel comprised of senior representatives from the program partners. 
 
The winners received equity-free grants courtesy of HSBC, to be used to accelerate growth. In addition, they will receive pro bono consultancy from Bain & Company, the leading management consulting firm, as well as pro bono legal support from top lawyers Al Tamimi & Company. Both firms provided extensive support for the Accelerator, including participating in judging the winners and consultants’ advice for participants during the board meeting simulations. All participants will also benefit from Amazon Web Services (AWS) promotional credits as part of the AWS Activate program, as well as Media for Good support from Discovery[1]. 
 
“The C3 Impact Accelerator – powered by HSBC, has been an excellent opportunity for BlindLook. We have learned a great amount, from measuring our impact to scaling our business growth. Winning this competition from amongst 1,000+ applicants and 40 participants around the region is an extremely proud moment for us,” said Sadriye Görece, co-founder of BlindLook. 
 
Following three months of training on various impact and business growth pillars by top experts and trainers in the space, the four winners were selected from a pool of 40 semi-finalists. 
 
“We at C3 are proud of the potential of entrepreneurs across this region in creating systemic and sustainable change, and the startup founders who have been part of the C3 Impact Accelerator are testament to that. Our network is committed to supporting founders over the years and we are humbled by the passion and dedication of this thriving community”, said Medea Nocentini, following the awards ceremony.