Students from 2 Greater Victoria educational facilities have bragging rights after winning top prizes in the Future Innovator Challenge -- sponsored by the South Island Prosperity Project and Island Savings.
The competition allows high school and post-secondary students to compete for seed funding for their projects which improve the quality of life for citizens in the region.
Two teams were declared first-place winners in their categories receiving $1,500 each to fund their ideas.
The winning secondary-school project, HMU Sports, was developed by Yassin Guitouni of Mount Douglas Secondary. It's a social networking app that reduces isolation and increases physical health by connecting young people through sport.
The winning post-secondary team was LUG -- a person-to-person shipping service that allows users to "crowd-source" deliveries - like those made on UsedVictoria or Kijiji - from the community. That team is made up of Audrey Wright, Cyrus Lee, Josh Desrochers, Magnus Kristensen, and Tyler Arseneault of UVic.
The Future Innovator Challenge received more than 70 submissions, with the six finalists invited to pitch their projects to a panel of judges at a public event at University of Victoria.