The TotalEnergies third edition of the Startupper of the Year Challenge in Ethiopia started in November 2021 with 888 entrepreneurs, with 15 finalists selected to pitch their ideas. The Challenge identifies and rewards young entrepreneurs with the best innovative and sustainable projects. The winners received ETB 370,000, customized coaching to expand their project, and increased visibility. In addition, they will compete and present their project to a Grand Jury along with other winners from 32 African countries.
Natnael from Haleta Tutors won the Best Startup under the 3 Years category. Haleta Tutors is a web-based tutorial service that simplifies parents’ difficulty when looking for qualified tutors. The platform allows users to choose from over 400 tutors where every their profile has a name, profile picture, education background, service price, and a short description explaining their qualifications. Parents can filter tutors by price, subject, grade level, and schedule. In addition, once hired, tutors will provide a detailed progress report on each lesson for parents to track their children’s progress.
Hoheyat from Husky Energy and Technologies won the second award, the Best Business Creation Idea category. Husky Energy and Technologies is a renewable energy startup aiming at solving energy poverty, waste problem, and indoor pollution. The company plans to convert coffee waste into an energy source to tackle indoor pollution with a smokeless stove. It also plans to create a sustainable environment by selling its primary products, biofuels made from compressed coffee waste, and secondary products consisting of gasifier stoves, fast-food pushcarts, and biomass electric generators.
Mihiret from Dynamo Center for Technology won the third category of Best Female Entrepreneur. Dynamo Center for Technology is a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and research center in Southwest Ethiopia. The center uses its local language-based digital teaching devices to deliver short-term practical-based training in science education.
