NFTE WORLD YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE WINNERS
2025
World Champion Carla McDonnell, 16, from Ireland, wins NFTE’s 2025 World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
World Winner
On Nov. 20, 2025, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) named Carla McDonnell, 16, from Ireland, as the winner of NFTE’s World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge presented by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US), PayPal, and Zuora with support from Certiport, a Pearson Vue company, and UBS.
McDonnell, represented Foróige with her venture Vax Chill, a compact cooling solution designed to preserve livestock vaccines and reduce wastage in rural farms. McDonnell received a $5,000 grand prize to continue developing her enterprise.
Two other ventures earned finalist honors and $1,000 prizes each: Đỗ Đức Anh Lê and Mai Anh Lê from the Global Citizen Education Group in Vietnam with their business idea Optimal Optics, a smart eyewear startup that combines robotics, AI, and health innovation to promote better everyday wellness, and Carlos Morret from Fundación E in Mexico with his business idea Tláloc, a digital twin for water networks designed to help Mexico-and the world-save water.
The 2025 challenge brought together 34 student entrepreneurs from 13 countries across NFTE’s Global Innovation Network, including Adrian Bautista and Evan Perez from Rhode Island, winners of NFTE’s U.S. National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge with their business Color Your Life. Over the course of three days, students participated in workshops, coaching sessions, and networking opportunities designed to strengthen their entrepreneurial mindset and global perspective.
2024
World Champions Issa Odeh, 18, and Antony Saleh, 17, from Palestine win NFTE’s World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
World Winner
On Nov. 21, 2024, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) named Issa Odeh and Antony Saleh as the winners of its 2024 World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge presented by the Citi Foundation, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) and Zuora, with associate support from PayPal and additional support from the New York Stock Exchange and UBS.
The event brought together 11 student businesses from 10 different countries. The top finalists competed at the New York Stock Exchange. NFTE’s 2024 National Champion Lucio Hightower-Rojas from Los Angeles, represented the United States in the competition.
Odeh and Saleh, students from the Al Nayzak Organization in Palestine impressed the judges with their innovative business idea, Water World, an affordable device that monitors water and purity levels in tanks, purifies water, and notifies users remotely.
Two other business ideas were recognized as finalists. Sami Jalloud, Noor Rashid, and Noor Shalabi, also from Al Nayzak, received $1,000 for their Mediclic concept. Yuliia Tkachenko, Kyrylo Martyniuk, Arina Khmeliuk, and Vadym Dobrovolskyi from Ukrainian Future Business Incubator in Ukraine received $1,000 for their business idea, OUTEX.
2023
17-year-old Raneem Al Suwaidani from the United States wins World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
World Winner
On Nov. 17, 2023, the reigning National Champion Raneem Al Suwaidani also won NFTE’s second annual World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge presented by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) and Zuora, with support from PayPal and Santander.
The event brought together 23 students from 11 different countries to compete at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City. NFTE’s 2022 National Champion Josh Kreuger of St. Louis and Al Suwaidani, the 2023 National Champion from Providence, Rhode Island, represented the United States in the competition.
Al Suwaidani impressed the judges with her innovative business idea, Lilypad, a food truck rental opportunity for BIPOC entrepreneurs to test their culinary concepts in a low-cost, risk-free environment.
Three runners-up were also recognized for outstanding business ideas. Sindhuja Venkataraman from ENpower in India was awarded $1,000 for her business concept, MyRoots. Additionally, Tadeo Noguera and Sebastián Rodriguez representing Fundación Educación para el Futuro (FEF) in Argentina received $500 for their business idea, GreenBug. Misaki Nakamura of Career Link in Japan received $500 for her business concept, Aladdin.
2022
Left-to-right: NFTE’s first-ever World Champions Divya Sijwali and Parth Puri of India
World Winner
In April 2022, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship named the winners of the inaugural World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, presented by Citi Foundation, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) and Zuora.
Student teams represented NFTE global partner organizations in Austria, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico and Singapore and competed against three winners of NFTE’s 2021 U.S. National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.
The April 6-7 virtual pitch-off included a semifinal and final round of competition, with the winners determined by a panel of VIP judges and recognized at a gala celebration.
The first-ever winning team included:
17-year-old Divya Sijwali and 16-year-old Parth Puri of New Delhi, India, receiving $5,000 for their business, Tyron, a fashion footwear brand that employs local cobblers to craft stylish, quality products from recycled and upcycled tires.
Runner-up ($1,000): 17-year-old Nana Sakimoto of Hiroshima, Japan, whose app, Gomimin, aims to make environmental cleanup more social fun by enabling users to earn in-game currency to pick up litter.
Runner-up ($1,000): 17-year-old Ava McLoughlin of Donegal, Ireland, whose business, Irish Tweedscapes, specializes in unique, hand-crafted Magee tweed gifts that celebrate the country’s heritage.