We are extremely excited to announce the 2025 Cayman Islands Business Design Competition winners!

The Project of the Year was presented to Bahadur Lal for StateMate – AI-driven financial reporting for effortless US GAAP compliance. Bahadur took home the grand prize of USD $10,000 sponsored by Cayman Enterprise City, a complimentary incorporation of company sponsored by HSM, complimentary marketing support fromZEAL, and complimentary mentoring sessions from Emerge Technology Lab.

The People’s Choice Award was presented to ChipIn – Smart Payments for shared moments by Shannon Hill and Lodeane Kelly. Members of the public were invited to vote on the “People’s Choice Award” which included a USD $2,000 cash prize sponsored by Cayman National Bank.

The Sustainability Award was presented to AssessMind by Brandon McBride and Amelia Kemp, who are developing an affordable, accessible, and tailored online dyslexia assessments platform. The project received a USD $2,000 cash prize sponsored by JB Advisory Services.

The Innovation Award for an innovative business design that is inspiring, new and/or unconventional was presented to Cogniscent Learning, Revolutionising education through AI-driven personalised learning by Michael Staniewicz. Michael received a USD $2,000 cash prize sponsored by ZEAL.

The Community Impact Award for a business design that makes a difference in our local and/or global communities, was presented to Dr. Eustache Placide and Dr. Annette Murphy for their project EmpowerAbility Solutions, where innovation empowers ability. The EmpowerAbility Solutions team received a USD $2,000 cash prize sponsored by eShore. 

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Pitch Day Highlight Video