{"id":159112,"date":"2023-09-27T14:58:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T12:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=159112"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:58","slug":"potatoes-batteries-and-a-smoking-app-win-prizes-at-the-erasmus-university-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/09\/27\/potatoes-batteries-and-a-smoking-app-win-prizes-at-the-erasmus-university-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Potatoes, batteries and a smoking app win prizes at the Erasmus University Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The finals of the Erasmus University Challenge saw student entrepreneurs pitch their companies to a jury of professionals, with an app to reduce smoking and drinking habits taking the top prize.<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShrey Khurana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The finals of the Erasmus University Challenge \u2013 an entrepreneurial competition for students \u2013 took place in the skybox of the Excelsior Stadium last Thursday, with an audience of around two hundred people watching the pitches of student entrepreneurs from Erasmus University and TU Delft.<\/p>\n

It was ultimately down to the members of the jury, which included Ed Brinksma (President of the Executive Board of EUR) and entrepreneurs such as Han Go (co-owner of the food company Go-Tan), to determine which start-ups were most promising. In addition to prizes for the best companies in categories such as Prototyping<\/em> and Startups<\/em>, several other prizes as well as an Audience Award were awarded to participants.<\/p>\n

Hydroponic potatoes<\/h2>

Adithyan Senthil Athiban (Industrial Design) and Mustafa Agbari (Technology, Policy and Management) won in the Prototyping<\/em> category for their company Habbi. The TU Delft students developed a system that can grow potatoes using hydroponics, meaning that their technology allows crops to be grow in water, i.e. without soil.<\/p>\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShrey Khurana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Mustafa, from Palestine, came up with the idea: \u201cI\u2019d had an interest in hydroponics for some time. Then I realised that it\u2019s only used for leafy vegetables and fruit, but not for anything that can sustain human life long term.\u201d Habbi\u2019s system, on the other hand, can be used to grow root vegetables, such as potatoes. Mustafa sees potential opportunities for war zones, such as his home country. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we use hydroponics to grow food in refugee camps, for example?\u201d The pair won 4,000 euros for their company, which they will now use to further develop the prototype.<\/p>\n

Home batteries<\/h2>

\u201cAlexander has been an entrepreneur ever since he learned how to write. I got into the game a little later, but Accuselect really made me fall in love with it\u201d, says IJsbert Bekooy, who set up Accuselect, the company that won the Audience Award, together with Alexander van Citters.<\/p>\n

The company helps make home batteries more accessible for people to have at home. These are batteries that are crucial to storing excess energy, Alexander explains: \u201cMost solar energy goes unused, with 70 per cent going back into the electricity grid. You need a battery for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two entrepreneurs studied Industrial Design together at TU Delft. IJsbert then went on to take a subsequent master\u2019s programme in Strategic Product Design, and Alexander chose the master\u2019s programme in Innovation Management at Erasmus University. During the finals, IJsbert and Alexander won the Audience Award, amounting to a cash prize of 1,000 euros. They also received an invitation to a scale-up dinner<\/em>, which is a dinner at which various entrepreneurs meet for networking purposes. Alexander is looking forward to it: \u201cIt\u2019s always great to talk to people who have a similar mindset and are involved in entrepreneurship. Scale-ups are by definition further along than we are, so I think we stand to learn a lot from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShrey Khurana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

A mindful approach to smoking and drinking<\/h2>

The top prize of the finals went to Playfool, which developed an app to help people control their cravings<\/em> for cigarettes or alcohol. Marta Imeneo, one of the founders, explains how this works: \u201cWhenever you notice that you feel like having a cigarette or a drink, you open up the app. The app offers a number of different activities, such as sports, reading and writing, to distract you.\u201d Marta explains that this distraction has to last for approximately three minutes in order for the urge to smoke or drink to dissipate.<\/p>\n

However, Playfool\u2019s goal is not to get people to stop smoking or drinking altogether. \u201cOf course that\u2019s something we can help with, but we mostly want to people to approach smoking and alcohol in a mindful way. In doing so, we hope to tackle excessive habits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShrey Khurana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Marta studied International Business Administration at Erasmus University and is currently the co-owner of a consulting company for start-ups in Georgia. A client initially came up with the idea to do something to tackle excessive drinking and smoking, after which Marta and her colleagues came up with the app. The consultants were so thrilled that they decided to participate in the new project personally. The team primarily aims to use the 5,000-euro cash prize for organic marketing<\/em>, which is marketing that is based on growth within the company\u2019s own network and via social media.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t