An app to connect people, reduce loneliness and celebrate acts of kindness, an e-commerce platform to help local businesses trade during the pandemic, and an online academy to upskill care workers are the three beneficiaries of grants totalling £23,500 from Digital Jersey’s Covid-19 Community Challenge.
27 submissions were whittled down to 6 shortlisted pitches which were presented to judges in a Dragons’ Den-style event broadcast live on YouTube.
The judging panel comprised Glenda Rivoallen, alongside Envestors CI Managing Director Ed Daubeney, IBM’s Chief Technology Officer for the UK and Ireland Andy Stanford-Clark, the University of Exeter Business School’s Professor in Digital Economy Alan Brown, and CEO of Pinpoint Tom Hacquoil.
“All six submissions were shining examples of the entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity that thrives in Jersey. My fellow judges and I believe they all have merit, but that three stood out and deserved funding to support the fast-track progression of their ideas”, Dr. Glenda Rivoallan, founder and CEO of Soulgenic.
The Digital Jersey team will be working alongside each of the beneficiaries to track their progress and offer support and expertise.
Fetch, an online platform helping local businesses trade during the pandemic, receives £10,500
Uniti, a gratitude app which allows people to create networks to share acts of kindness, is awarded £8,000
Care Academy, which offers accredited training for care workers, gets £5,000