Pakistani Entrepreneur Greenovation Wins Shell Global Innovation Prize As A Runnerup

Greenovation, a startup by Saad Bin Azam, an entrepreneur from Islamabad, Pakistan has taken home one of the 2019 Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators Awards, a global competition which highlights and rewards businesses that demonstrate excellence in innovation as well as giving entrepreneurs a chance to shine on a global platform.

This year, Shell LiveWIRE has partnered with Shell Global Commercial, which supplies lubricants, aviation fuels, bitumen, sulfur, and related services to one million business customers in 150 markets, to deliver a competition focused on the circular economy. Shell aims to reward entrepreneurs that help move the world away from the linear economy model – making, using, and disposing of products –towards an economy that designs waste out of the system.

 “It’s been incredibly inspiring to see such passionate entrepreneurs across the world helping to tackle and eliminate waste,” said Huibert Vigeveno, Executive Vice President of Shell Global Commercial. “Transitioning to a circular economy requires us to think creatively and do things differently. Working with innovators like these winners will allow businesses, communities, and society to move faster towards a truly sustainable future.”

Habib Haider, Country External Relations Manager said, “We’re thrilled to see Greenovation, a start-up that transforms plastic waste into liquified petroleum gas, from our country take home the Top Ten Innovators prize. This is a great opportunity not only to highlight Greenovation but also showcases the talent and innovation we see every day across Pakistan.”

The winner of each category will receive a top prize of $20,000 and the two runners-up from each category will receive a prize of $10,000. In addition, the judges chose an Outstanding Achievement Award winner who will receive $10,000. The award package for all ten also includes mentoring support by a Shell expert, an opportunity to benefit from market linkages and a possibility to be considered as a vendor to Shell or Shell’s customers.

The winners faced stiff competition with Shell receiving 98 applications from 19 countries around the world. Twenty-one finalists then had to compete in a public vote, which drew in more than18 thousands of votes from 144 countries.

The complete list of the 2019 Top Ten Innovator finalists are as follows:

The 2019 Top Ten Innovators judging panel included: Patrick Carré, Vice President, Global Key Accounts & Global Business; Jeff Wee, 2018 Top Ten Innovators winner and founder of WormingUp; Maarten van Dijk, managing director of SkyNRG; Susan Preston, managing partner of SeaChange Fund; and Wijnand de Wit, partner at Dalberg.