November 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

THE TAKEDA YOUNG ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD 2018
The Takeda Foundation announces the Awardees of the Takeda Young
Entrepreneurship Award 2018. The highest award, the Best Entrepreneur Award
goes to Mr. Ankit Agarwal, Founder and President of Kanpur Flowercycling Pvt.
Ltd., India. In India, people customarily donate flowers to temples and mosques
as a symbol of devotion. The donated flowers reach eight million tons per year,
and most of them are discarded into the River Ganges, thus causing great
environmental problems (they contain toxic chemicals such as pesticides andherbicides). Mr. Ankit Agarwal founded Kanpur Flowercycling Pvt. Ltd., toconvert the floral waste collected from temples and mosques into proprietaryproducts such as Florafoam®, a biodegradable Styrofoam like material, incense
sticks and fertilizers. They hire poor women to process the waste thus providingthem stable employment. The Takeda Foundation highly evaluates hisachievements and efforts to convert the wasted flowers at temples and mosques
into useful products on a business basis and at the same time to prevent
pollution of the River Ganges, and gives him the Best Entrepreneur Award. The
monetary prize for the Best Entrepreneur Award is 1,000,000 yen.
In 2018, two women receive the Selection Committee Special Award. They are
Ms. Dalareich Polot of the Philippines, and Dr. Nabuuma Shamim Kaliisa ofUganda. The monetary prize for each of the Selection Committee Special
Awards is 300,000 yen.
The Entrepreneur Awards go to Mr. Elijah Amoo Addo of Ghana, Ms. Naadiya
Moosajee of South Africa, and Mr. Venuste Kubwimana of Kenya. The monetary
prize for each of the Entrepreneur Awards is 200,000 yen. The AwardsCeremony will be held on February 2, 2019, in conjunction with the Takeda
Symposium in the Takeda Hall of the Takeda Building, the University of Tokyo.
The purpose of the Takeda Young Entrepreneurship Award is to assist thedevelopment of young human resources who bring well-being to people as wellas to cultivate entrepreneurship. The Award requires the submission ofsupporting letters from people who will benefit from the success of the proposed
project as well as the project proposal itself. Candidates should be young
individuals under forty years of age regardless of sex, organization or nationality.
This year, the Foundation received 258 applications from 53 countries.

November 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

Awardees were selected by a Selection Committee (Chair, Dr. Kunihiro Asada,
Director of VLSI Design and Education Center and Professor, the University ofTokyo) consisting of outside intellectuals. Finalists were selected by the selection
committee following first and second panel discussions; the Awardees werechosen following video presentations by the finalists.

CONTACT
Norio Ohto, Ph.DSenior Managing Director
The Takeda Foundation
The Takeda Building 4th Floor
The University of Tokyo
2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
113-0032 JAPANTEL: +81-3-3868-0160
FAX: +81-3-3868-0161
E.mail: ohto@takeda-foundation.jp
URL: www.takeda-foundation.jp

November 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

THE BEST ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Mr. Ankit Agarwal,
Founder and President, Kanpur Flowercycling Pvt. Ltd.
, India“HelpUsGreen®”

THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SPECIAL AWARD
Ms. Dalareich Polot,
CEO, Ginto Fine Chocolate Corporation, the Philippines,“Bean to Bar Chocolates in the Island of the Chocolate Hills”

THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SPECIAL AWARD
Dr. Nabuuma Shamim Kaliisa,Founder, Community Dental and Reproductive Health,
Uganda,“Cervical Cancer Screening for All”

THE ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Mr. Elijah Amoo Addo,
Founder and CEO, Food for All Mobile Technologies Ltd.,
Ghana,“Okumkom Mobile App & Community Discount Stores”

November 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

THE ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Ms. Naadiya Moosajee,
Co-founder, WomEng, South Africa,“Women in Engineering”

THE ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Mr. Venuste Kubwimana,
Secretary General, International Transformation
Foundation, Kenya,“A Water Kiosk at School”

November 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

THE BEST ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Mr. Ankit Agarwal,Founder and President, Kanpur Flowercycling Pvt. Ltd.,
India“HelpUsGreen®”

India, people customarily donate flowers to temples and mosques as a symbolof devotion. The donated flowers reach eight million tons per year, and the mostof them are discarded into the River Ganges, thus causing great environmental
problem (they contain toxic chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides). Mr.
Ankit Agarwal founded Kanpur Flowercycling Pvt. Ltd to collect and convert thefloral waste into proprietary products such as Florafoam®, a biodegradable
Styrofoam like material, incense sticks and fertilizers. They have filed six patents
for their proprietary products. They hire poor women to process the waste thus
providing them stable employment. Now they collect 8.7 tons of wastes flowers
per day from 268 temples and mosques in Uttar Pradesh. Since they started theproject in 2015, they have collected a total amount of ten thousand tons ofwasted flowers and treated one ton of chemical pesticides hiring 1,260 womenand helping 119 children go to school. Currently, they have 29 employees and 73
women leaders for processing the waste. Their sales are US$90,000 in 2016,
and US$220,000 with 27% earnings in 2017. They expect US$600,000 of sales
for 2018, and to operate in 5 local areas in 2019.The Takeda Foundation highly
evaluates his achievements and efforts to convert wasted flowers from temples
and mosques into useful products on a business basis and at the same time toprevent pollution in the River Ganges, and gives him the Best Entrepreneur
Award.
THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SPECIAL AWARD
Ms. Dalareich Polot,
CEO, Ginto Fine Chocolate Corporation,
the Philippines“Bean to Bar Chocolates in the Islandof the Chocolate Hills”

November 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

Ms. Dalareich Polot grew up in a family that ran a business of making a cacao
liquor called “tablea” on Bohol Island in the Philippines. The family businessgenerated a meager income which barely served a family of seven. In 2014, she
was fortunate to receive scholarship to study bean to bar chocolate production atGhent University in Belgium. Upon returning from Belgium, she helped her familyfound a company, Dalareich Chocolate House, where they manufacture tableaand high end chocolate. On Bohol Island, each family owns old cacao trees
planted in Spanish colonial times, and Ms. Dalareich Polot started aproject,”Ginto Chocolate”, that aims to produce bean to bar chocolate with local
cacao beans by rehabilitating old cacao trees on Bohol Island. Bean to bar
chocolate has variety of fragrances depending on the season. Bohol Island hasa unique touring spot called “Chocolate Hills”, and she now promotes island
tourism by combining bean to bar chocolate with the geographical features of theisland. The Takeda Foundation highly evaluates her unique project and gives herthe Selection Committee Special Award.
THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SPECIAL AWARD
Dr. Nabuuma Shamim Kaliisa,
Founder, Community Dental and Reproductive Health,
Uganda“Cervical Cancer Screening for All”
In Uganda, inadequate access to effective early screening for cervical cancer
leads to the high morbidity and mortality caused by the disease. There are notenough hospitals and clinics even in the cities, and people have limited
opportunities for health checks. The situation is worse for women in rural areas,
where they can hardly obtain health information and medical checking. Dr.
Nabuuma Shamim Kaliisa opened the Community Dental and Reproductive
Health Clinic in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, in 2016, and decided to provide
cervical cancer checking for rural women by sending her team with medical
examination equipment. They visit rural areas by van in response to calls fromvarious women’s groups who have limited access to medical institutions, or byidentifying specific women’s groups who need medical checking. Dr. Nabuuma
Shamim Kaliisa maintains a low examination price, and introduces a loan
payment system so that many women can take cervical cancer screening. WhenNovember 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

the team finds an early stage cancer, they provide initial treatment. Dr. Nabuuma
Shamim Kaliisa’s clinic is a collaboration with the Uganda Cancer Center. If theyfind a late stage cancer, they recommend patients go there for treatment. She
offers follow-up service for patients by mobile applications. The Takeda
Foundation highly evaluates her efforts, and gives her the Selection Committee
Special Award.

THE ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Mr. Elijah Amoo Addo,Founder and CEO, Food for All Mobile Technologies Ltd.,
Ghana“Okumkom Mobile App & Community Discount Stores”

In Ghana, it is said that one out of four children goes to sleep hungry, and 45%
of food is lost in the supply chain. Mr. Elijah Amoo Addo started the “Food for All
Ghana Program” in 2014, to provide lower income residents in cities, orphans,students, and community people with food at a discounted price or sometimes
free by developing a mobile application platform, “Okumkom” (meaning hungerfighter). He also operates stores that offer free or discounted foods. It is reported
that students returned to school regularly after the program provided food to afree school in a fishing village. The program monthly delivers US$10,000 worthof food, and provides 12 low income groups with discounted foods. In thisprogram food is sold at a price that tops at 15 % of the purchase price. Sales
through the program in 2017 amounted to US$40,000 with US$1,000 profit.
The Takeda Foundation recognizes the fact that the program has beendelivering food since 2014. The Foundation highly evaluates Mr. Elijah Amoo
Addo’s consistent efforts and gives him the Entrepreneur Award.

November 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

THE ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Ms. Naadiya Moosajee,Co-founder, WomEng, South Africa,“Women in Engineering”

In South Africa, there is a gender prejudice that women are not suited toscience or engineering. In many countries the percentage of female scientists
and engineers is less than 10%. However, user-friendly products tend to be bornwhen women are involved in their design. In 2006, Ms. Naadiya Moosajee
started a project “WomEng” to provide girls from infants to grown-ups with
scientific and technological education depending on their age. Textbooks,workbooks and education kits are designed by women from the viewpoint of “forwomen”. WomEng has 9 branch offices in South Africa and operates in 16countries. The sales of WomEng were US$210,000 with US$33,000 profit in2017. They expect increasing sales and profit in 2018. Students started
graduating from the program in 2014, and 35 women are now employed byUnilever. Graduates are also employed by other prestigious companies including
an electric company, ARM, and an engineering consulting company, Arup.
WomEng graduates also have founded four start-ups. The Takeda Foundation
highly evaluates their continuous efforts to increase the number of female
engineers and gives a co-founder, Ms. Naadiya Moosajee the Entrepreneur
Award.

November 6, 2018
The Takeda Foundation

THE ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Mr. Venuste Kubwimana,
Secretary General, International Transformation
Foundation, Kenya,“A Water Kiosk at School”

In rural villages of Kenya, it’s the children’s job to bring back water from far
away wells and rivers, which is a great burden for them. In 2013, Mr. Venuste
Kubwimana and the International Transformation members started a business ofsupplying water by setting a water kiosk at a school and selling water to local
people at 3 to 5 yen per 20 liters. The school makes a profit by selling water at
the Kiosk, and with the profit the school can maintain its hygienic infrastructure
without depending on public subsidies. With a water kiosk at the school, theschool attendance rate is also improved. They bring clean water from the public
water system by installing a pipeline from the public water system to the school.
They use high quality water supply equipment made by “Join The Pipe.
Organization”. The equipment includes auto-stop taps, drip taps, refillable waterbottles, and Jerry carry karts with which children can carry clean water back totheir homes. The initial investment cost is 360,000 yen and can be paid off in twoyears. They have already set kiosks at 11 schools and areas. All water kiosks
are constantly working, and making a significant contribution to the improvementof quality of life in the communities. They are setting up two more kiosks inKenya in 2018, and one in Rwanda. The Takeda Foundation recognizes that awater kiosk at school not only provides clean water to local people but also
promotes business education in school. The Foundation highly evaluates hisefforts and entrepreneurship and gives the Entrepreneurship Award.