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WeFarm impresses Eva Longoria to bag $200k prize at global pitching competition

London startup WeFarm has been crowned one of two big winners at The Venture 2016 global pitching competition in New York City.

The business, which has developed an SMS-based peer-to-peer network for farmers in the developing world, faced off against four other social enterprises looking to bag a share of the $1m investment pot as the UK’s representative in the competition.

Following a pitching competition in front of a live audience and a panel of judges that included actress and philanthropist Eva Longoria and entrepreneur Joe Huff, WeFarm’s Kenny Ewan managed to take home $200k to help fund his enterprise after impressing judges with his viable, sustainable business model.

Commenting on his success, Kenny said: “Everyone at WeFarm is absolutely thrilled to have finished second in The Venture global final. We were up against so many inspiring social entrepreneurs so coming runner-up was a real achievement.

“In the next twelve months, our goal is to connect one million farmers to WeFarm and our $200K prize money will certainly help us reach that goal.”

Bdaily spoke to Kenny recently where he spoke of his ambition to create ‘the internet for people with no internet’, utilising the smallholder farmer knowledge-base to create a global resource for farmers in the developing world.

WeFarm’s prize pot was the second largest in the competition, with Colombian social startup Conceptos Plásticos, which recycles plastic waste into materials used for housing, awarded $300k in the night’s biggest award.

Congratulating both winners, Eva Longoria said: “I was really inspired by the finalists tonight – I’m so grateful there are people in the world who can figure out solutions to complex global problems.

“We all live in a global community and I absolutely believe social entrepreneurship is the only way we can create positive change. The caliber of the 27 finalists, their business ideas and fresh thinking was amazing.”

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