Mandeville, Manchester — The Northern Caribbean University (NCU)- based team Guardana has this year placed sixth in the world when they presented at the International Business Model Competition, held in Washington DC, in the United States, on April 29 and 30.

In 2014, during the outbreak of the chikungunya virus carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the team saw the opportunity to start the production of a DEET-free mosquito repellant called Guard, the product with which they entered the competition.

The International Business Model Competition (IBMC) is the first and largest, lean, start-up competition in the world, which aims to educate and inspire smarter and more successful entrepreneurs. This year, 5,000 teams from 200 schools from all over the world participated in the competition. Of that number, 42 teams were given the opportunity to present their business models — Guardana being one of them.

Team Guardana, which comprises NCU students Princess Shakes, founder and CEO, and Natoy Allen, earned the right to represent Jamaica on the international stage when, on April 1, they walked away as winners of the National Business Model Competition, which was organised at the local level by the Development Bank of Jamaica through the Jamaica Venture Capital Programme and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.

In the local competition, the team beat 12 other teams from four universities, making this the third-consecutive year an NCU-based team was announced champions of the competition.

The team was the first all-female team to represent Jamaica internationally in the IBMC.

The NCU-based JarGro Enterprise last year made it to the semi-finals of the international competition; while in 2014, the NCU-based, local organic hair shampoo company, Herboo Enterprises, placed 8th in the finals and was also awarded the Best International Team Award.