On June 6, 2026, the fifth iteration of DevExpo, Haiti’s premier innovation competition focused on digital transformation, concluded its final round at Port-au-Prince’s Montana Hotel. Co-organized by local tech group Banj and the Digicel Foundation, the pitch event drew high-profile attendees from across the public and international development sectors, including representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Haiti, Haiti’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Sogebank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, and dozens of partner organizations invested in advancing Haiti’s tech ecosystem.
Launched earlier this year in March 2026, the 2026 DevExpo carried the central theme of “AI for Social Impact,” created to center and amplify the technical talent of young Haitian innovators. The competition challenged participants to leverage artificial intelligence and cutting-edge digital tools to tackle pressing, real-world challenges across key sectors of Haitian society, from public education and healthcare to small business development and expanded access to critical community services.
The selection process began with more than 200 project submissions from across the country. After an initial rigorous evaluation round, 29 projects advanced, with 10 ultimately earning a spot in the final pitch competition. At Saturday’s finale, five standout startups were selected as winners, splitting a total prize pool of 5 million Haitian gourdes to fund further development and scaling of their community-focused solutions, each of which uses AI to address unmet social and economic needs across Haiti.
The first-place winner, ZònPam, took home 2 million HTG for its real-time community security platform. The tool alerts local residents to ongoing incidents and marks high-risk areas across the country, while integrating an AI chatbot named Nora that answers user questions related to public safety.
Second place went to Kòb Mwen, which received 1.5 million HTG. The fintech solution is designed to expand financial inclusion for Haitian communities, offering built-in budgeting education and accessible personal finance management tools for users who often lack access to traditional banking services.
Three projects tied for third place, each awarded 500,000 HTG. The first of these is Smart Digital Health for Haiti, also known as KURA, an e-health initiative that streamlines medical record management, remote patient monitoring, and telehealth services to expand access to care across underserved areas of Haiti. Next is The Baccalaureate, an AI-powered adaptive learning platform that provides personalized study guidance and targeted practice exercises to help Haitian secondary students prepare for their national baccalaureate exams. The third third-place winner is PHARx, a pharmaceutical sector platform that simplifies medication access for patients, improves inventory tracking for local pharmacies, and streamlines connections between patients and care providers.
Competition organizers have expressed confidence that the development of these five projects will drive tangible, positive innovation and widespread social benefit across Haiti. UNDP Haiti extended formal congratulations to all five winning teams, noting that their work underscores the extraordinary capacity of Haitian youth to turn ambitious creative ideas into actionable, impactful solutions for national development. By continuing its support for DevExpo, UNDP reaffirms its long-term commitment to strengthening Haiti’s digital innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem for future generations.