Innovative breast cancer detection device beats more than 50 competitors in the leading competition for student entrepreneurs

Frankfurt, Germany (May 2, 2017)—Last weekend, the international Entrepreneurs‘ Organization (EO) named Julián Ríos Cantú of Higia Technologies “Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year 2017.” The eighteen-year-old student from Monterrey Institute of Technology prevailed in the global finals against 55 competitors from 55 countries. Since 2006, the Entrepreneurs’ Organization has presented its Global Student Entrepreneur Awards to honor exceptional performances by student entrepreneurs facing the challenge of combining studying and active entrepreneurship. Julián Ríos Cantú received prize money in the amount of US$20,000 as well as additional endowments from the EO network.

After Julian’s mother‘s two painful battles with breast cancer, he resolved to save women’s lives through early breast cancer detection. Higia Technologies is a Mexican biosensor company dedicated to boosting women’s quality of life through professional, self-exploratory methods that increase early detection of breast cancer. Its flagship product, EVA, is the first intelligent bra that uses touch, texture, color and pressure to non-invasively assess breast health.

“Again, we have seen some amazing competitors in this year’s global finals,” said 2017-2018 EO Global Chairman, Brian Brault. “Julián Ríos Cantú‘s project impressed judges with his passion and drive to bring this vision of using technology to improve the detection of this potentially deadly disease to life. EO’s aim is to support student entrepreneurs on their path forward. With mentorship, as well as the sharing of knowledge and experiences, we help students bring their businesses to success and to grow as entrepreneurs.”

The competition also recognized second- and third-place finishers, Sadira Yeong Min Ji of Malaysia, who founded Readpublic, a centralized platform in which book prices are curated from different online book stores and an e-commerce marketplace is provided for readers to buy and sell their used books, and Muhammad Asad Raza of Pakistan, who founded Neurostic, a biomedical enterprise dealing with a variety of medical equipment from Decision Support Systems to prosthesis. An award to recognize companies with notably innovative ideas was given to Matthew Rooda of the United States for his company SwineTech, Inc., and an award for a business model with high social impact went to Hasan Zaser Elcik of Turkey for his company Otsimo. The “Lessons from the Edge” award for participants who persevered and overcame challenging obstacles went to Gabriel Antonio Maya Villamiza from Colombia, founder of Zue Beauty.

The awards were bestowed during EO’s Global Leadership Conference, one of the greatest entrepreneurial congresses of the year. Over 1,400 entrepreneurs from the international Entrepreneurs’ Organization gathered in Frankfurt to learn from each other and build their leadership skills. In addition to interesting workshops and speeches, the GSEA finals and the Keynote address by the founder and former CEO of the Priceline group, Jeffrey Hoffman, were highlights of the conference. Hoffman spoke on the topic “How entrepreneurs can save the world.”

The final round of the 2017 EO GSEA competition was live streamed on Facebook. To play back the broadcast and view the pitches of all five finalists, visit fb.me/EO.GSEA.