NetZero, an alternative to plastic and wooden pallets made from coconut husk, has won the first prize at the 2024 Start-up Wheel competition. Photo nld.vn

AirX Carbon has won the first prize for Vietnamese entries in the annual Start-up Wheel competition with its NetZero pallet.

Made from coconut coir, it is an affordable, high-quality and biodegradable substitute for plastic and wooden pallets.

AirX Carbon researches and produces plastic alternatives using agricultural waste to combat pollution and greenhouse emissions.

The Vietnamese section of the contest seeks to accelerate local startups into their next phase of development, and there is an international section to help foreign companies penetrate the Vietnamese market and connect with the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem.

The second prize went to Filum.ai for its GenAI, a generative AI platform, and Kalotoys received the third prize for its educational toys.

The top three awards came with cash prizes of VNĐ1.15 billion (US$46,210), VNĐ200 million ($8,040), and VNĐ150 million ($6,030).

REBO Technology won the grand prize of VNĐ30 million ($1,200) in the Vietnam Youth Start-up sub-category with a solution designed to enhance teaching and learning experiences by combining 3D, augmented reality and AI technologies to create interactive lessons.

Lilicover's, a skincare system from the Republic of Korea, won the first prize in the international section.

Trương Lý Hoàng Phi, one of the judges, said: “This year's projects and solutions were all of very high quality, creative and have great potential to be commercialised.”

Start-up Wheel, which seeks and helps develop innovative projects and solutions from start-ups, has been around for 12 years.

This year it attracted 2,345 projects from 24 countries. – VNS