Ecolozik Eco (Mauritius) Ltd, a startup that runs a one-stop ecological community and eco-ecommerce platform for an environment friendly, conscious shopping experience and lifestyle, captured first prize at the national finals of the Entrepreneurship World Cup held on December 21, 2022 in Ebene Cibercity, Mauritius.
Angelique Samouilhan, founder of Ecolozik Eco Ltd., won the final pitch competition round and moves to the next phase of the global competition against national winners from 200 countries. Empretec Mauritius, as national organizer, offered its support to prepare Ecolozik for the Global Finals.
"[My company] provides the only ecological web platform in Mauritius," said Samouilhan. "This site allows people to discover, enjoy and buy green products, activities, accommodation, events, courses and workshops in Mauritius. We also support and promote NGOs and local businesses which are all environmentally friendly."
In preparation for the EWC Global Finals, Angelique Samouilhan will participate in a Bootcamp which features virtual training and mentoring sessions targeted to the company’s current stage and growth trajectory.
Ecolozik emerged victorious from a pool of 15 contestants who applied in the country – each receiving access to free virtual training services and up to $25,000 in perks to help them take their venture to the next level.
As a Global Finalist, Ecolozik will compete for a share of USD 1 million in cash prizes. The top 100 Global Finalists will receive $100,000 worth of in-kind services and support from service providers such as AWS, Freshworks, Oracle, Hubspot, Stripe and Segment.
Other finalists in the EWC Mauritius National Finals included:
- La maison Ojas, from Albion. The startup consists of a wellness facilitator and experts from the tourism field, management and the financial sector. Each expert shares the vision of providing wellbeing services and build up a community.
- Morivert Co Ltd., from Port Louis. The startup includes a talented team of nine young people with a combination of expertise and passion for creating positive impacts through business. The company has received several awards and recognitions including the National Innovation Challenge Award.
Judges for the competition were:
- Sanjay Ramgutty, President of the Association of Mauritian Entrepreneurs and seasoned entrepreneur having founded a few companies in the Mauritian ecosystem.
- Linley Tanner, entrepreneur and founder of Fantastic Mind
The EWC Mauritius National Finals were organized by Empretec Mauritius in partnership with The Global Entrepreneurship Network (Mauritius).
Since launching in 2019, the competition has attracted 400,000 registrations from 200 countries and connected founders with over US$3M in cash prizes and another US$256M worth of perks and free support and services.
Global Finalists will face off against one another in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in March 2023.
EWC is an initiative led by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Monsha’at, with support from a collection of national and global partners including One Valley, The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF), Entrepreneurs’ Organization, KAUST and Startup Genome.