Last February 14, during the World Government Summit 2017 awarding ceremonies in Dubai, UAE, in front of more than 8,000 delegates from all over the world, a startup from the Philippines was praised as one of the best and brightest in the world winning in the recently concluded UAE Blockchain Virtual GovHack.
MaroonStudios, hailing from Quezon City, Philippines, ranked Second Place, bringing $30,000 USD and besting more than 1,000 participants from 41 different countries through their innovative platform HealthBlocks.
HealthBlocks is a blockchain-based technology that enables secure health information records transfer between governments, patients, clinics, insurance companies and service providers.
It is an ecosystem solution comprised of the following: the HealthWallet, a smartphone application that enables easy patient identification and access management; the HealthPortal, an all-in-one solution for customizable & standardized Health Data Management; and the HealthNetwork, a provisioned-blockchain Health Information Exchange Network that enables cryptographic & immutable data storage.
Project Oaken got First Place and $100,000 USD with their IOT-based submission for smart cars to autonomously operate toll systems through smart contracts. Third Place and $10,000 USD went to Dubai Land Registry, with their platform for blockchain-based digital title deeds. Team Hypergive also bagged the 2017 Year of Giving Award with their submission for a digital food wallet that helps feed homeless and hungry people in the community in a secure and transparent manner.
Prior to winning in the hackathon, the team also won last November 2016 the ASEAN’s Next Great Idea competition sponsored Uber, Digi & the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre. The event featured more than 140 submissions from all over the region, with only 20 being chosen to join a 2-week incubation program in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. HealthBlocks being among the 5 finalists awarded in the Global Entrepreneurship Community 2016 closing ceremonies, will be flying to Uber’s HQ in San Francisco this March for more training and VC fundraising.