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15-year-old Harrison Nott named as Grand Winner of Alibaba.com's CoCreate Pitch and awarded $200,000 prize[1]
In recognition of his pioneering product idea, Harrison received a prize package of $200,000 to help further develop and scale his CoolTowel™ product.
Hosted at CoCreate Europe, Alibaba.com's flagship B2B event, in London on 14 November, CoCreate Pitch saw 30 finalists shortlisted from thousands of SMEs from across Europe and globally pitch to a star-studded panel of judges. Each completed a 90-second presentation, vying for the honour to be recognised the creator of Europe's most innovative product.
After a highly impressive pitch, Harrison, who is based in Essex , was crowned as the Grand Winner for his CoolTowel™ business. The innovation, which was described by judges as a "fantastic pitch" and a "brilliant product", offers instant, reusable cooling relief for workouts, hot days and adventures.
Harrison, whose business already turns over £200,000 per annum, documents his journey through entrepreneurship on social media, where he has already built an online audience of more than 50,000 followers and amassed millions of views. He has been interested in business from a young age, encouraged and supported by his parents.
In addition to the Grand Winner, 10 other finalists were highly commended and awarded $20,000 worth of prizes each for their product innovations. The highly commended finalists include Nutri Troops, Intotum, and HUID from the UK; Azza Fencing, Opack, and Portalo from France ; TRAINOM, RAZECO, and Garados Swimwear from Germany ; and Reeflex from Italy .
In its maiden year in Europe , Alibaba.com saw an exceptionally high quality of submissions for CoCreate Pitch, particularly from British SMEs. In fact, British SMEs showed a strong interest in sustainable development, with just under one fifth (18%) of submissions showcasing environmental concepts – higher than submissions from France , Italy and Germany .
Following the conclusion of CoCreate Pitch Europe and CoCreate Pitch Vegas, Alibaba.com has now awarded a total global prize pool worth $1 million to innovative SMEs on both sides of the Atlantic. The two events, which convened more than 4,000 SMEs combined, underlines Alibaba.com's commitment to helping SMEs turbocharge their business, adopt AI tools to revolutionise their sourcing, and unlock meaningful growth opportunities.
CoCreate Pitch total cash pool comprises 50% non-dilutive prize and 50% in credits and support.
The full list of finalists:
Launched in 1999, Alibaba.com is a leading platform for global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce that serves buyers and suppliers from over 200 countries and regions around the world. It is engaged in services covering various aspects of commerce, including providing businesses with tools that help them reach a global audience for their products and helping buyers discover products, find suppliers and place orders online fast and efficiently. Alibaba.com is part of Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group.
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