Grand Final of the 8th Edition of the Fundación MAPFRE Social Innovation Awards
Here are the three winning projects
Awards
The 8th edition of our Awards has come to an end. Three projects, developed in Chile, the United States and Sweden, have won a competition that underlines the power social innovation has to transform the world.
Although only three projects were selected as winners, the twelve finalists, from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the United States, Spain, and Sweden, all took center stage at the grand final. They demonstrated how it is possible to improve the lives of countless people with practical solutions and effective use of the technological tools at our disposal.
In his opening speech at the awards ceremony, Antonio Huertas, president of Fundación MAPFRE, referred to this technological component, which underpins the majority of the proposals. “Technology and innovation must serve a humanistic purpose and help reduce inequality between people”, he told the audience.
He also addressed the twelve finalists: “You should all be very proud of how far you have come already. You have successfully made it through the expert evaluations and the regional semifinals, and just being here today, as I said, is already a great achievement. Many of the entrepreneurs who have stood on this stage in the seven previous editions have seen their projects become a reality, and today we can find them on the market, delivering the added social value that is required to be in these Awards.”
In the Health Improvement and Digital Technology (e-Health) category, the award went to PEGASI, an innovative start-up from Chile that uses advanced technology to speed up cancer diagnosis and treatment in Latin America. In his speech, co-founder and CEO Luis Santiago explained what led him to launch the company: “PEGASI SAIL was born out of a painful personal experience, but it has become a tool that is having a real impact on thousands of patients. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we are transforming the way cancer is diagnosed and treated, optimizing the time that can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. This award reinforces our commitment to keep developing solutions that break down barriers, integrate healthcare systems, and bring hope to those who need it most.”
In the Silver Economy category, the winning project, from the United States, was Helpful Village. Its representative, Manuel Acevedo, founder and CEO, presented this online platform designed to support Villages, a movement of nonprofit community organizations that help older adults age in their homes with dignity, autonomy, and social connections. For Acevedo, “Older people deserve to age at home, surrounded by their community, with independence, dignity, and real support. Seeing how my mother, after retiring, struggled with loneliness and a lack of purpose led us to discover the Village Movement in the United States and understand that many communities needed tools to better organize their mutual aid. That was all we needed to launch Helpful Village.”
In the Safe and Sustainable Mobility category, the award went to Cocoon, a Swedish initiative that has developed next-generation bicycle seats for children, equipped with a patented airbag system that inflates in milliseconds using AI-based detection algorithms. Emma Garbiñe Garatea, CEO of the company, received the award with these words, “This award reinforces the idea that sustainable mobility must also be safe, especially for children. At Cocoon, we don’t just design an airbag, we design peace of mind for parents who want to ride their bikes without fear. This gives us the strength to keep growing, learning, and contributing to greener, but also more humane, cities.”
The event, held in the auditorium at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, was attended by Juan Cruz Cigudosa, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities, Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, CEO of IE University, and Andrés Allamand, Ibero-American Secretary General. The awards ceremony was attended by hundreds of people, both in person in the auditorium and from all corners of the world via live streaming.
All the finalists now become part of Red Innova, a network of social entrepreneurs that grows with each edition of these awards. By offering them our support and training, we bolster both their growth and knowledge exchange.
With the grand final, the eighth edition of this competition has come to an end. But our commitment to social innovation never stops.