Three startups aligned to the University of California ecosystem have been awarded entry to finals events at XTC’s startup competition after being crowned best in their class at the GCV Digital Forum by Andrea French.
The winners include the champion in the XTC Social Impact contest – Curies, which provides a system for enrolling patients in clinical trials, with a focus on minority groups that have historically been underrepresented.
Curies’ victory was announced by Barrett Parkman, director for Samsung Catalyst Fund and co-manging director of XTC.
The other winners were trash-to-cash recycling service Takachar and Sophie’s Bionutrients, a producer of sustainable food proteins using fermented feedstock that is headquartered in Singapore.
Takachar was selected for the early-stage track, while Sophie’s Bionutrients was best among the growth-stage businesses. Each has been awarded a $50,000 cash prize, and entry into XTC’s regional finals competition.
There were 2,419 startups from 87 countries in the last XTC finals. 2021 will see over 20 startup competitions, the winners from each progressing to boot camp finals to be held in May and June.