The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) has announced Krysta Mendes Silva as the winner of its fifth annual Shark Tank of Wellness competition.

Silva was the representative from a team of students – also including Daranie Mor and Megan Ip – from GA’s Savannah College of Art and Design which was awarded first-place and US$5,000 for its concept named Samii, a set of portable, rechargeable utensils that detect and alert users of allergenic proteins in food.

The utensils pair with an app – where users can programme sensitivity to specific allergies – and vibrate when an allergen is present.

Two other finalists were selected from a pool of 150 submissions from students from 36 countries, and awarded prize money to help realise their concepts.

In second place, winning US$3,000, was Balazs Csatlos from Hungary’s University of Pannonia for the Sleeping Beauty sleep mask, a new high-tech solution for getting a good night’s sleep.

Liam James Campbell, also from GA’s Savannah College of Art and Design, was awarded third place and US$2,000 for Melo, a multi-functional pregnancy pillow to enhance sleep/rest.

All finalists had to present their concept live and undergo questioning from a panel of Wellness Sharks, including:

– Karen Campbell, business development consultant at luxury Thai wellness destination, Chiva-Som– Julia Sutton, COO of Exhale Enterprises – which operates as the boutique fitness and spa brand Exhale Spa, a wellness business recently acquired by Hyatt

– Frank Pitsikalis, founder and CEO of spa and resort management software company, ResortSuite

Pitsikalis urged the three winners to make use of their time at the conference, saying: “You’ve got the opportunity to network with some amazing people, real movers and shakers in the wellness industry. So, see who can help you tackle these ideas and make them a reality.”

“2020 has been a remarkable year for our always popular student competition,” said Nancy Davis, chief creative officer and executive director of the GWS. “We launched the call for submissions just as the pandemic was taking hold in the world and as ‘wellness’ and ‘self-care’ became a rallying cry across the globe.”