The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is pleased to announce the 10 finalists for the PLAY Challenge. They were chosen from a total of 296 proposals from 30 countries.
The PLAY Challenge, which was launched on July 22 of this year, seeks to identify the most innovative global solutions from the education sector and the Creative Economy, such as video games, platforms and digital products that use gamification for the development, measurement or certification of cognitive, socio-emotional or executive functioning abilities.
“With annual growth of 13.5%, the video game industry is one of the parts of the Creative Economy that is growing the most. We are happy to see the interest that this competition generated because it is an important topic. Gamification has an enormous potential to transform traditional industries like the Education sector,” explains IDB Lead Specialist on Innovation and Creativity Alejandra Luzardo.
The finalists were chosen by a group of 14 jurors including IDB specialists, investors, experts in educational video games and members of the region’s innovation ecosystem. The evaluation criteria were fulfillment of pedagogical objectives, innovation, potential for scalability, operativity and promotion rate.
The finalists were:
- CodeMonkey Studios Studios (Israel): Led by Zack Isakow
- Towi (Mexico): Founded by Andrea Oviedo Villasana
- Toolbox Academy (Spain): Founded by Francisco Vico
- CodedArena (Spain): Founded by Jordi Rubio Moreno
- Elements ME SAPI de CV (Mexico): Founded by David Ahedo
- Dadbox (Mexico): Founded by Jennifer Reyna
- Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) (Ecuador): Represented by Nayeth Solórzano
- PIXDEA (Honduras): Founded by Xavier Rubio
- Canal SI Televisión (Argentina): Founded by Luciano Zocola
- Instituto Empatizar (Brazil): Founded by Julio Cesar Teixeira de Freitas
These 10 finalists will compete for $ 10,000 USD, the possibility of being considered to implement their solution in the region within the framework of the IDB's 21st Century Regional Skills Project, as well as other prizes awarded by:
- Altered Ventures
- Bizarro Lab
- Creative Business Cup
- ENFC Paraguay
- FCB México
- Fábrica de Medios: FDM
- Film Andes
- Fundación Compromiso
- Globant
- New Ventures
- Magicelab
- Posibl
- Seedstars
- Stonebot Studio
- Vertex Studio
PLAY Challenge finalists will pitch their solutions to a judge panel on November 5 at 9:30 AM EST. The winners will be announced via livestream at the final event on Friday, November 6 at 10 AM EST. Click here to register for this free event.
About the IDB
The mission of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is to improve lives. Founded in 1959, the IDB is one of the main sources of long-term financing for the economic, social and institutional development of Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also develops cutting-edge research projects and offers policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private clients throughout the region.
Agustín Cáceres
