What a fantastic Grand Finale!
On May 19th, the Grand Finale of the 9th edition of the Mark Challenge took place in the majestic ballroom of the Monaco Yacht Club.
Winners
The Jury of the Grand Finale chose team Eight Thirty from Polimoda (Italy) as the winner in Category 1 and RSG – Royal Sat Group from the University of Palermo (Italy) as the winner in Category 2.
Team Eight Thirty presented a comprehensive end-to-end tech platform capable of providing luxury fashion houses with an exclusive online database of highly curated scarce artisanal treasures in the fields of textiles and fashion, which luxury fashion houses can use to either recruit artisans or collaborate with them for their collection. This is supported by a virtual reality interface that simulates the artisans’ world using geographic mapping set up at their showroom, allowing luxury brands to virtually meet and follow up on projects while indulging in the world of artisanal treasures. The project also intends to create an FT version of the artisanal products, which will be offered on their metaverse platform. The concept was chosen for his ability to leverage and empower luxury values, from heritage and tradition to today’s world of excellence, and changes, with technology, a strong intergrowth, and a social marketplace of artisans. A great win-win and passionate solution.
Team RSG – Royal Sat Group aims to become the sole point of reference for the technology for superyachts through two new types of hardware: one will provide worldwide connectivity to superyachts at 200mbps; the second hardware will provide cyber security. This project won the 9th edition of the Mark Challenge because of its strong potential, well-defined market space, and opportunity for further development.
Prizes
Team Eight Thirty (Category 1 winner) has been awarded:
- H For Human Foundation (H-FARM): a tutoring day within H-FARM Campus
(value 2.000 EUR) - Neos Chronos: a 3000 EUR Sales Optimization Workshop
- Relevance: 1-hour discovery meeting to understand the business model as well as the objectives and KPIs, and 3 hours of consultancy with a senior specialist to help the team develop the strategy and advice on digital best practices (value 800 EUR)
- VBC – Virtual Business Card: a free premium business card
Team RSG – Royal Sat Group (Category 2 winner) has been awarded:
- Empirent: a financial prize of 2000 EUR and 6 months of a mentorship program with
Ms. Olga Chabr Grillova, CEO
- H For Human Foundation (H-FARM): a tutoring day within H-FARM Campus
(value 2.000 EUR) - Neos Chronos: a 3000 EUR Sales Optimization Workshop
- Relevance: 1-hour discovery meeting to understand the business model as well as the objectives and KPIs, and 3 hours of consultancy with a senior specialist to help the team develop the strategy and advice on digital best practices (value 800 EUR)
- VBC – Virtual Business Card: a free premium business card
Special Awards
During the Grand Final, besides the Best Business Plan awards for categories 1 and 2, three Special Awards have been conferred:
- Fashion and Accessories,
- Yachting,
- Entrepreneurship.
The Winner of the Special Award in Yachting 2022 is team YachtingONE (Germany). The project offers is a unique model of tokenized co-ownership in an innovative time-sharing concept and was chosen for embracing the trend of co-ownership via their use of tokenization, which will offer enhanced flexibility and allow customers to swap and sell their weeks onboard. This added flexibility should encourage more entrants into the market and will likely provide a great stepping stone for charterers looking to take the next step towards hassle-free ownership.
Given that the difference between first and second place for the Special Award in Yachting was only one point, the Yachting Jury agreed to give team BOATDOC from the International University of Monaco (Monaco) a Special Mention in Yachting.
The Winner of the Special Award in Fashion & Accessories 2022 is team Eight Thirty from Polimoda (Italy).
The project was chosen for its focus on craftsmanship and research, two values that fashion cannot ignore. A project that embraces sustainability and technological implementation by creating an original and well-conceived mix.
Given that the difference between first and second place for the Special Award in Fashion & Accessories was only one point, the Fashion & Accessories Jury agreed to give team Watchplus24 from the International University of Monaco (Monaco) a Special Mention in Fashion & Accessories.
The Winner of the Special Award in Entrepreneurship 2022 is team Watchplus24 from the International University of Monaco (Monaco).
The project was chosen for the impactful communication, the well-executed video, and the concept of presenting time in its various forms.
Audience Choice and Social Media Contest
The Winner of the Audience Choice 2022, voted by the public, is CANDOUR from Polimoda (Italy).
The Winner of the Social Media Contest 2022 addressed to the semi-finalist teams is LUCA from Grenoble Ecole de Management (France). The contest required semi-finalists to create an Instagram campaign for the business idea they presented to the Mark Challenge. Each winning team member received 2022 Monaco Grand Prix tickets from May 26th to 29th.
The Winner of the Social Media Contest 2022 addressed to the voters is @ccparker09 on Instagram. The prize awarded includes a Chilli n.5 Dining Collection and a 50 EUR Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer gift card.
Numbers of the 9th edition
In this 9th edition of the competition, 112 teams representing 46 international universities and business schools competed. Registered teams grouped 310 students and professionals representing 49 nationalities. This year, the highest number of applications came from institutions located in the United Kingdom (9), Italy (9), and France (8).
Thank You!
Registration for the 10th edition of Mark Challenge will be open in mid-January 2023, and the Grand Finale will be held on May 17th, 2023.
The Mark Challenge organizational team would like to express its gratitude to all teams, their universities/business schools and professors, as well as private companies that assisted our participants throughout this long journey that began in January 2022. We would like to thank all of our partners and sponsors for their support and generosity.
Please visit our website for more information about the Mark Challenge and stay up to date on all the latest news.
If you have questions about our programs, feel free to visit our website: monaco.edu.
Updated 25 May 2022