Various startup competitions award seed funding to emerging ventures

Two separate pitch competitions have awarded funding to various startups and community initiatives.

In Sydney, the JCA Jumpstart event featured four finalists—Kesher, The Shifra Centre, Jewish Joy Club, and The Empowered Jew—competing for a share of $60,000 in seed funding. One finalist, Kesher, provides online support and classes for Israeli primary school children displaced by war. The panel of judges included executives from Australian Unity, Zip, 10x10 Philanthropy, and Canva.

At Florida State University, the fourth annual Discovery Challenge awarded $85,000 to five affiliated startups. Cryton Biosciences, led by Anosh Gomes, secured the first-place prize of $50,000 for its work on treating mitochondrial dysfunction and metastatic colorectal cancer. The audience choice award of $10,000 was granted to Esperance Biotech, while Radical Solutions received the second-place prize of $25,000.