SunRice Team from the University College of London has won first place at the Hult Prize competition for startups with a rice drying model that's based on Vietnam's rice grain drying technology.
The global finals of the Hult Prize, the world's biggest contest for budding startups, took place at the United Nations Headquarters on September 15, with the participation of six teams. A member of SunRice said that the team's technology is based on the rice grain drying technology of Vietnam, which has been handed over to Myanmar and improved to suit local agriculture.
SunRice's business model aims to reduce the amount of wasted rice during the drying process and benefit rice farmers in Southeast Asia, helping to ensure food security in the future. The model bridges the gap between off-the-shelf rice drying technology and rice farmers who are unable to afford it, making the technology more accessible to poor farmers.
The ninth annual Hult Prize attracted more than 100,000 university students from 121 countries and territories worldwide. This year's theme was "Harnessing the power of energy to transform the lives of 10 million people".
