The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), an international non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring young people from low-income communities to stay in school and to recognize business opportunities, announced the winners of the 2011 World Series of Innovation, presented by Microsoft.  The competition challenged teams of students worldwide to devise innovative products and services that address everyday opportunities in six categories. Winners were chosen by the general public with over 40,000 online votes cast, and include:

• iWheelDrive, Springbrook High School, Silver Spring, MD for the “Mobile Game” category, sponsored by Microsoft
• Pocket Locker, St. Clement’s School, Toronto, ON for the “Mobile App” design category, sponsored by Microsoft
• Gin Tropic, Pathways to Technology, Windsor, CT for the “Innovative Beverage” category, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company
• Rose-Ay’s Transformers, Academy of Information Technology & Engineering, Stamford, CT for the “Sustainable Style” category, sponsored by jcpenney
• 300 Calories or Less, Miami Edison Senior High School, Miami, FL for the “New Franchise Idea” category, sponsored by Franchise Source Brands International
• E-PRIDE, Miami Edison Senior High School, Miami, FL for the “College and Career Readiness” category, issued by in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education.  

“We are proud to extend NFTE’s message of the power of entrepreneurship education and the importance of innovation by challenging and awarding these extraordinary winners,” said Amy Rosen, president and CEO of NFTE.  “We look forward to possibly seeing these exciting businesses come to life, and to providing ongoing encouragement to young people around the globe to pursue the endless entrepreneurial opportunities that lie before them.”

The competition, a featured event for the 2011 Global Entrepreneurship Week, featured groups of five or more students competing in up to six innovation challenges by creating a new, unique or innovative product or service to address that market niche. Teams showcased how their product or service will impact people’s daily lives and how they will market their innovations. Submissions consisted of a description of their entry, a marketing pitch for the product or service, a customer profile and a 30-second commercial.  

NFTE was proud to have Microsoft as the presenting sponsor of the World Series of Innovation and sponsor of the “Mobile Game” and “Mobile App” design categories, challenging students to create mobile phone apps and games that raise awareness and provide solutions for common student and school issues. Microsoft and NFTE will now work to find a development partner to assist the winning teams in bringing their ideas to market.

The classroom of each winning team receives a grant of $2,500 from the sponsors and NFTE and an Xbox Kinect from Microsoft. The students on each winning team also received prize packages from their categories’ sponsors, such as a mobile device from Microsoft, $2,000 in gift cards from JCPenney, $1,000 in gift cards from Coca-Cola, and finally, NFTE will work to arrange for a representative from the U.S. Department of Education to come and visit the winners in person to discuss their idea for College and Career Readiness.   

tags: Coca-Cola, Department of Education, JCPenney, Microsoft, NFTE, World Series of Innovation