Sustainable tea made from banana stems earns student entrepreneurs the chance to study abroad at ASU

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We are honored to be invited to participate in the International Student Start-up Idea Competition, hosted by The NorthCap University in India and co-hosted by Universitas Esa Unggul.

The event took place from 20-23 February 2023 and was started by Masterclasses from practitioners and professionals in the startup and technology companies such as Vidya Bhushan, Co-founder & COO of Daalchini – Smart Vending Machines Technologies, Apurva Chamaria, Head of Startups and Venture Capital of Google India, Rashi Narang, Founder of Heads Up For Tails, and Gaurav Sarup, Director of ESG, Carbon & Social Performance at Vedanta Resources Limited.

The Esa Unggul University delegation from Indonesia, namely the PePiPow Team by Sarasvati Devi Raja Guhyam Pavitram, Priska Dewi Ningrum Arumawati, Jelita Purnama Yuandini. The three of them won 1st place (Best of the Best) in the International Student Start-up Idea Competition, beating participants from various countries.

The distinguished juries are prominent persons in their respective fields, such as Dr. Rick Shangraw, President of Cintana Education, Dr. Vijay Arora, Chief Executive Officer of IGDTUW Anveshan Foundation, Kavindra Taliyan, Chief Executive Officer of Atal Incubation Centre JNU Foundation For Innovation(AIC-JNUFI), Vishal Chadha, Former AVP & Head Net New Business of and Saurabh Jain, Vice President of Solis Capital & Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

This is thanks to their business ideas that are oriented towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim at development by increasing the economic welfare of the community on an ongoing basis, sustainability, as well as maintaining the quality of the environment and guaranteed development and implementation of governance that is able to maintain an increase in the quality of life from one generation to the next. PePiPow is able to prove that a business inspired by local wisdom can go global.

The team has presented a powerful startup idea and won the highly coveted prize of the Arizona State University (ASU)-Cintana Summer Immersion Programme in the USA.

StepNesia, As part of their mentor team with the CEO, Muhammad Dhafi Iskandar, and Business Advisor, Angelina Arini Larasati, have witnessed their hard work to continuously improve the quality of their business ideas, prototypes, and presentations. Tremendous appreciation for their persistence and entrepreneurial spirit!