Jamaican Adventist entrepreneurs create mosquito repellent and places 6th in international competition
CEO of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica Dennis Chung (left), with National Business Model Competition winners Princess Shakes and Natoy Allen (second right); Development Bank of Jamaica Managing Director Milverton Reynolds, and coordinator of the Jamaica Venture Capital Program Audrey Richards. Images courtesy of NCU.
May 26, 2016 | Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica | Nigel Coke/IAD
Inspired by the need to have individuals protected after a 2014 outbreak of the Mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus (Chik-V) in Jamaica, which claimed scores of lives both locally and regionally, two Northern Caribbean University (NCU) students created an organic repellent, Guardana, which placed sixth in the annual International Business Model Competition (IBMC).
The finals of the competition was held at the Microsoft Ventures campus in Washington, DC, April 29-30, 2016, where business teams from several universities and business schools across the world competed for the prestigious IBMC trophy and a grand cash prize of US$30,000.00.
In making it to the finals, student entrepreneurs Princess Shakes and Natoy Allen, who formed the company Guardana Incorporation won the National Business Model Competition (NBMC) finals earlier in April, ahead of 12 other teams from four universities. They secured a cash prize of J$2 million (US$16,000.00), the NBMC trophy and an all-expense-paid trip to represent Jamaica and their university at the IBMC.
NCU’s Guardana presents their DEET free three-in-one mosquito repellent to the Minister of Health Dr. Christopher Tufton (Source – JIS)
“Reaching the international leg of the competition was a great achievement because we were not only representing NCU, but Jamaica,” said Princess Shakes, CEO of Guardana. “Also, to be placed sixth from an initial group of 5,113 teams, 42 of which made it to the finals in Washington, DC, from 186 Universities from approximately 46 counties was indeed a great accomplishment.”
An entrepreneur program is part of the NCU curriculum that have borne good fruits as this is the third consecutive year that NCU was winning the NBMC with students going on to do well at the international level of the competition and becoming successful entrepreneurs.
“I am very proud of the achievements of team Guardana,” said Dr. Trevor Gardner, president of NCU. “The university will continue to support youth entrepreneurship through our entrepreneurship program. This was definitely a move in the right direction and it will continue to be a part of our curriculum.”
According to Shakes, the competition required getting outside of the building to validate a monetizable pain and to create a solution. In this case, a reliable solution to combat the spread of mosquito borne diseases was not available and this increased the transmission of diseases like Chik-V.
Statistics show that it is estimated that 86% of Jamaicans were affected.
Presently, the relevance and need of products such as Guardana has drastically increased due to the outbreak of the Zika Virus which is known to have caused a birth defect called microcephaly, in which babies are born with unusually small heads, and other serious brain abnormalities.
“People are getting more health conscious due to the Zika Virus epidemic and so this product will be further developed, expanded and distributed internationally, especially to countries like Brazil where it is more widespread,” said Shakes. “We will also be developing other products that will serve as a natural guard, which in turn will improve the health of individuals, increase and maintain productivity and aid in economic growth through job creation.”
Guardana is a 100% natural lotion repellent that is effective and long lasting. It has a very pleasant scent and is in the form of a lotion to maximize coverage on the body. It includes a combination of plants and essential oils such as citronella, lemongrass, peppermint and coconut.
The IBMC is the first and largest lean student startup competition in the world, which focuses on the inputs, not the outputs, of the entrepreneurial process. The competition’s primary aim is to educate and inspire smarter entrepreneurs who in turn launch more successful ventures.