​Stellenbosch University medical student, Keaton Harris, has once again been recognized for his innovative start-up business, InforMED. This time he was crowned, above some of the country's top start-up businesses, as the South African Champion of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards. 

Harris's InforMed is an “offline mobile language translation application which aids the healthcare professional in creating a more refined differential diagnosis prior to the physical exam". 

The awards are run by the Entrepreneurs' Organisation (EO) – a global business network which spans more than 50 countries and which enables entrepreneurs to learn from each other and grow their businesses. The annual student competition recognizes students who are able to run a business while they are studying full-time. 

The awards took place in Cape Town, following a four-hour judging process. Harris was pitched against five other finalists in the contest, all of whom were chosen from around South Africa for the country-specific awards. Their businesses ranged from watch manufacturing, to trail-running events and a platform aimed at keeping talent in South Africa. 

Last year, Harris was part of a team that won a global competition run by the Young Sustainable Impact Innovation Program for their design prototype which aims to help cross language barriers within the health sector. The team created an offline mobile translation app which essentially breaks the language barrier between health practitioners and patients. 

As the winner of the South African leg of this global competition, Harris will fly to Maucau, China to represent South Africa in the global finals of the competition in April. He also won a cash prize as well as the opportunity to receive mentorship from a range of South African entrepreneurs. 

Commenting on his latest success, an elated Harris said he was initially nervous to go up against such entrepreneurial talent. 

“Needless to say, (when I won) I felt a feeling of utter surrealism because I have now competed against the best student start-ups throughout the country and have come out victorious. It has given me such a sense of motivation to want to work even harder in everything that I am doing - which I believe can only impact my personal, emotional and professional spheres in a positive way. In China I will be competing against all of the country winners from around the world. I am extremely and immensely excited to network with everyone and to make life-long international friendships - whilst developing InforMED Global to change the face of Medicine as we know it."