After the successful launched last year of Startupper of the Year by Total,” a competition that promotes and supports the youth and their creativity by awarding financial support, coaching, and visibility for the winning ideas and startups. Total (Philippines) Corporation, the local subsidiary of French oil giant TOTAL and proponent of the idea-pitching competition, has announced the three winners of the Startupper of the Year by Total Challenge.

Here are the winners of first-ever Startupper of the Year:

Mark Gersava is the Philippines’ first-ever Startupper of the Year. He is the Chief Executive Farmer and resident Research and Development expert of Bambuhay, a social enterprise that creates sustainable and eco-friendly bamboo products made by individuals in poverty-stricken provinces. Bambuhay provides sustainable livelihood and employment to a growing number of Filipinos living below the poverty line, helping increase their incomes and uplifting their lives at the same time.

The second place is Aaron Hilomen. He is the co-founder of Antipara Exploration Inc. His startup delves in 3D underwater geospatial mapping and analytics that use a custom-designed algorithm that can automatically analyze and assess marine resources. This technology is a scalable solution to access and map marine resources for food security and sustainability, the management of which is crucial for food security, especially in archipelagoes like the Philippines.

The last guy is UPROOT team lead Robi Del Rosario, who took the third place, with his urban farming project that creates community-based farms within the city, producing natural and sustainably-grown plants and fish locally, lowering food miles and ensuring freshness of produce. This community-based agricultural effort helps make food more available, accessible, and affordable, in line with their belief that no Filipino should go hungry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fXRq7aAxT8

The 2018-2019 Startupper of the Year by Total Challenge, which is held simultaneously in 55 countries, 37 of which are in Africa, 11 in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region, 4 in the Americas, and 3 in Europe.

The top winner in each country will see their project presented to the international grand juries that will pick the six Grand Winners from all 55 countries.