Alibaba.com, a leading platform for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, has named 15–year–old Harrison Nott as its Grand Winner of CoCreate Pitch – the product-driven start-up competition – for his innovative small business, CoolTowel™.
In recognition of his pioneering product idea, Harrison received a prize package1 of $200,000 to help further develop and scale his CoolTowel™ product.
Hosted at CoCreate Europe, Alibaba.com’s flagship B2B event, in London on 14th November, CoCreate Pitch saw 30 finalists2 shortlisted from thousands of SMEs from across Europe and globally pitch to a star-studded panel of judges. Each completed a 90-second presentation, vying for the honour to be recognised the creator of Europe’s most innovative product.
After a highly impressive pitch, Harrison, who is based in Essex, was crowned as the Grand Winner for his CoolTowel™ business. The innovation, which was described by judges as a “fantastic pitch” and a “brilliant product”, offers instant, reusable cooling relief for workouts, hot days and adventures.
Harrison, whose business already turns over £200,000 per annum, documents his journey through entrepreneurship on social media, where he has already built an online audience of more than 50,000 followers and amassed millions of views. He has been interested in business from a young age, encouraged and supported by his parents.
In addition to the Grand Winner, 10 other finalists were highly commended and awarded $20,000 worth of prizes each for their product innovations. The highly commended finalists include Nutri Troops, Intotum, and HUID from the UK; Azza Fencing, Opack, and Portalo from France; TRAINOM, RAZECO, and Garados Swimwear from Germany; and Reeflex from Italy.
In its maiden year in Europe, Alibaba.com saw an exceptionally high quality of submissions for CoCreate Pitch, particularly from British SMEs. In fact, British SMEs showed a strong interest in sustainable development, with just under one fifth (18%) of submissions showcasing environmental concepts – higher than submissions from France, Italy and Germany.
Following the conclusion of CoCreate Pitch Europe and CoCreate Pitch Vegas, Alibaba.com has now awarded a total global prize pool worth $1 million to innovative SMEs on both sides of the Atlantic. The two events, which convened more than 4,000 SMEs combined, underlines Alibaba.com’s commitment to helping SMEs turbocharge their business, adopt AI tools to revolutionise their sourcing, and unlock meaningful growth opportunities.
Harrison Nott, CEO & Founder, CoolTowel™, said: “I’m speechless. I have worked so hard to get here and didn’t expect to win. CoCreate Europe has been a great event. I couldn’t be any more grateful to Alibaba.com for the opportunity.”
Kuo Zhang, President, Alibaba.com, said: “CoCreate Europe was a fantastic event that celebrated the very best of SME product innovation from across Europe. It was extremely inspiring to experience firsthand the level of fresh thinking, creativity and innovative solutions in our hotly contested CoCreate Pitch competition, and we have a one-of-a-kind winner in Harrison Nott and CoolTowel™.
“At Alibaba.com, we are committed to helping SMEs fulfil their growth ambitions by democratising AI tools and digital sourcing. We look forward to continuing this support for many more years to come.”
