The University of Arkansas, ProPika Team, Wins Bangkok Business Challenge 2024

Sasin School of Management and SCG Chemicals Public Company Limited (SCGC), a leading innovator in integrated chemical solutions, announced the winner of the Bangkok Business Challenge 2024, powered by SCGC, the longest-running startup competition in Asia for aspiring future entrepreneurs. With the theme of this year’s competition, “Growing Impactful Ventures,” the Bangkok Business Challenge is the ideal, competitive platform for undergraduate and postgraduate students with an entrepreneurial mindset to pitch their startups.

ProPika team from the University of Arkansas, USA, was the Grand Prize winner of the prestigious HM The King’s Award and was awarded the cash prize of $18,000 (around 628,000 Baht). ProPika uses its patented technology to process cellulose so fuel producers can transform billions of tons of agricultural waste into sustainable alternative fuels and chemicals. Allegrow team from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, was the first runner-up. Allegrow is a cost-effective cell therapy platform for treating cancer and autoimmune diseases. MetaCycler Bioinnovations from the University of Waterloo, Canada, won the esteemed HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Sustainability Award and was awarded the cash prize of $5,000 (around 174,200 Baht). MetaCycler converts dairy waste into cost-effective, biodegradable PHA bioplastics using proprietary bacteria, aiming to revolutionize sustainable plastics.
Bangkok Business Challenge 2024 has generated significant interest, with 276 student teams from 62 leading universities in 19 countries on five continents submitting their startup business models to the competition. The final round was held at the Sasin School of Management on June 22, 2024. For more information on the Bangkok Business Challenge, please visit www.facebook.com/bangkokbusinesschallenge or the website https://bbc.sasin.edu/2024