2017 YIBI Final Grand International Conference, September 17th

On September 17, 2017, fifty Finalists gathered at Sofia University to compete in the 2017 YIBI Final Grand International Conference. These finalists were the top winners of each Semi-Final round, and were now advancing to the 2017 YIBI Final International Grand Conference. The students have worked tirelessly over the past few months creating and perfecting their business pitches, which they delivered in front of a panel of judges and venture capitalists, in addition to a live audience at the conference. The products were a testimony to each team’s talent and creativity, with everything from mobile apps, to air filters, to clothing, to a wide variety of different services to present.

This summer, YIBI had its annual business classes where students would create a startup company, with business professionals who would teach a course in the morning and qualified YIBI officers mentored them in the afternoon. As mentors, the YIBI team guided our students and motivated them and helped them prepare for the Semi-Finals and Grand Conference, which was a competition that would take place after the classes.

Although every project was excellent, judges eventually did choose the top three winning teams. In first place, was Homemade, an app which allowed everyday people to become chefs, offering fresh, delicious, and homemade food to anyone who craves it. Second place was given to two teams, Automedic, a needle-less injection as a vital monitoring device targeted to those with coronary heart disease, and Refresh, a company that sells past sell by date food that would otherwise be thrown out. Third place was awarded to team Adstract, which used router based platform to promote cheap, fast advertising tailored to your person, and team Poliglot, a social media platform that connected those who speak a target language, allowing both individuals to learn from each other, both receiving the prize. First place winners received $400, second place $200, and third place $100. In addition, sponsors gave out their own awards to teams of their choice.

YIBI is an international organization started by founder and current president Erika Yang in 2014. The mission of YIBI is to foster youth entrepreneurship and provide opportunities to all students wanting to learn more about leadership and business. YIBI currently has 15 branches across the United States and has headquarters in international countries such as Zimbabwe, Singapore, Japan, and China. Currently, there are over 1000 students who have benefited from YIBI. In addition, YIBI provide the YIBI Scholarship to low-income students to give all an opportunity to attend these business classes.

Overall, the 2017 YIBI Final Grand International Conference was a huge success. Each student worked extremely hard to make it this far into the competition, and their hard work showed impressively in their final presentations. Thank you to our sponsors, judges, BEEC Inc and Sofia University for making this conference possible.

Again, congratulations to all 2017 YIBI Finalists:

1. Jerry Zhang: Los Gatos High School, CA
2. Ethan Ling: The King's Academy, CA
3. Andrew Wong: BASIS Independent Silicon Valley (BISV), CA
4. Elaine Ye: Lynbrook, CA
5. Dorothy Xu: Ida Price Middle School, CA
6. Tifany Wong: Oak Ridge High School of El Dorado Hills, CA
7. Bill Xia: Jordan Middle School, CA
8. Justin Zhang: Hillsdale High School, CA
9. Simon Zhou: Chaboya Middle School, CA
10. Frank Zhuang: Archbishops Mitty High School, CA
11. Phil Han: Harker School, CA
12. Annie Ma: Harker School, CA
13. Amy Zhang: Saratoga High School, CA
14. George Wang: Gunn High School, CA
15. Charles Huang: Stratford School, CA
16. Thomas Zhu: Lowell High School, CA
17. Aaron Zheng : Pioneer High School, CA
18. Benjamen Gao: Design Tech High School, CA
19. Elaine Liu: Basis Independent Silicon Valley, CA
20. Max Rong: Lawson Middle School, CA
21. Jerry Li: Carlmont High School, CA
22. Charles Wang: Los Gatos High School, CA
23. ChristopherYe, Los Gatos High School, CA
24. Irene Chen, Los Gatos High School, CA
25. Amarillis Gao: Burlingame Intermediate School, CA
26. Mark Zhang: James Logan High School, CA
27. Jason Li, Stratford Middle School, CA
28. Isla Shi: Carlmont High School, CA
29. Wade Cao: Monta Vista High School, CA
30. Eileen Guo: Gunn High School, CA
31. Spencer Zhou: Evergreen Valley High School, CA
32. Kaman Li: Shenzhen Green Oasis School, China
33. Stanley Wang: Shanghai High School, China
34. Chloe Chan: Mission San Jose High School, CA
35. Cathy Wang: Mission San Jose High School, CA
36. Josh Zhang: Pleasanton Middle School, CA
37. Joanna Zhu: Harvest Park Middle School, CA
38. Pauline Rogers, Valley Christian School, San Jose, CA
39. Harrison Xu, Windemere Ranch Middle School, San Ramon, CA
40. Christine Li, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
41. Claire Ma, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
42. Leqi Zeng: California High School, CA
43. Jessica Yu: Hopkins Junior, CA
44. William Gu: Evergreen Valley High School, CA
45. Yunxin Du: Amador Valley High School, CA
46. Maggie Wang: Leland High School, CA
47. Amanda Liu, Harvest Park Middle School, CA
48. Ryan Guo, Monta Visa High School, CA
49. Richard Nguyen, Hyde Middle School, CA
50. Angela Liu, Harvest Park Middle School, CA

-Kaitlyn Wang, Vice-President of Organization