KUCHING: Sarawakian innovator Jeff Wee has won the top award in the retail chain category of this year’s Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovator Awards.
Wee, who founded agricultural consultancy Worming Up, defeated two other contestants from Britain and Brazil to take the prize.
“I was truly shocked when I was announced winner of this category as it was unexpected, but I am proud to receive this award as it’s a testament of what Worming Up has achieved thus far.
“It’s good to know that people believe in my vision. I am truly happy that my team and my work has received recognition globally and this has prove that what I am doing is definitely worth the cause,” he said after the award ceremony, which took place here recently.
Worming Up specialises in farming insects for effective organic waste management.
Wee added that the prize and support he received from the competition would enable his team to secure their first organic waste upcycling centre in Kuching.
This would allow them to continue working with communities to reduce, recycle and repurpose waste on a larger scale, he said.
The Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators Awards is a global competition which highlights and rewards entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence in innovation.
This year’s competition saw contestants from Britain, Nigeria, France, Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Besides Wee, fellow Sarawakian Haaziq Ibrahim of Ai Brique engineering consultancy emerged runner-up in the social enterprises category.
Ai Brique offers consultancy in green technological solutions to improve business operations and energy efficiency.
Josh Burton of Metronome Energy from Britain was the winner in the energy solutions category while Nina Nuraniyah of Greenna from Indonesia won the social enterprises category.
The entrepreneurs were judged by an international panel of business leaders chaired by Shell global retail marketing vice-president Joerg Wienke.
“It’s inspiring to see passionate entrepreneurs from around the world share innovative business ideas designed to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues,” Wienke said.
“Achieving a truly sustainable retail business will only be possible by doing things differently. We want to partner with creative thinkers like those in this year’s Top Ten Innovators so that we can leverage their innovative mindset to improve the sustainability of our business while supporting them to turn their ideas into viable long-term businesses.”
The winner of each category received US$20,000 while runners-up took US$10,000 each. All winners also received an award package which included mentoring support by a Shell expert, the opportunity to benefit from market linkages and the chance to be considered as a vendor to Shell’s retail business.