July 26, 2023
News
Wormwood or mugwort is commonly considered weed because it causes allergies. But this magical plant can reduce fever and suppress inflammation and even a scientist who researched it won Nobel Prize for curing malaria. The Artemis team has won the Erdem Hackathon 2023, which was organised by Caritas Czech Republic and partners between May 30 to June 6, 2023, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia with their innovative skin care products with mugwort essence.
Treasure mistaken for rubbish
The name "mugwort" is very familiar to Korean cosmetic consumers. Mugwort, also commonly named wormwood is a medicinal plant that soothes the skin and reduces redness, which has recently appeared in the ingredients of skin care products, which grows abundantly in Mongolia. The Artemis team, which plans to start producing cosmetic products with the high-quality medicinal plant mugwort, won the first place in the Erdem Hackathon 2023 and won 20 million MNT to start funding for their project, an exciting event aimed at fostering the creation of innovative products and services while supporting the introduction of intellectual property and entrepreneurial ideas into the socio-economic landscape.
The „Erdem Hackathon 2023“competition for scientists and entrepreneurs, held from May 30 to June 5, 2023, was organised by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, the University of Finance and Economics, Erdenet Science and Technology Park, Start-Up Mongolia and Caritas Czech Republic’s “All For YOUth, YOUth For All”, a project that connects local youth with job trainings, volunteering and mentoring programmes and more. In the hackaton, 23 participants competed based on the innovative nature of their project, practicality, access to production, and business ideas with research and intellectual property.
The Artemis team, consisting of experts from the Institute of Biology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Oyundari G and Egshiglen B, won first place in the hackathon with their skin care product project with wormwood extract. The plant that Koreans introduced to the international beauty market under the name of mugwort is actually wormwood. Mongolians call it annual wormwood or more generally weed. The scientific name of the plant is Artemisia annua.
In 2018, Oyundari, a research worker at the laboratory of plant biotechnology, wrote her thesis on the topic of wormwood. She has very sensitive skin that easily reddens and itches. While researching wormwood and getting acquainted with the research results, the idea of creating a cosmetic product appeared in her mind. When her skin sensitivity disappeared after using its extract, she knew she hit the jackpot. "When I visit a beauty store sometimes, the salespeople don't believe me when I ask them if they know mugwort is actually a weed. They always defensively say "No! It's a Korean medicinal plant. Not weed," Oyundari says, laughing.
100% organic local product
Wormwood is known to cause allergies and is a weed, but there are more than 300 species of wormwood worldwide and 106 species of wormwood growing in Mongolia, many of which are beneficial to health. Wormwood pollen cause allergies, but the main plant's ability to reduce fever and suppress inflammation has been noted in traditional folk medicine for centuries. In 2015, Tu Youyou, a scientist who discovered the compound in wormwood to cure the mosquito-borne fever malaria, which has plagued the population of Africa for many years, won the Nobel Prize for his discovery.
Wormwood has also been used in the treatment of Covid-19. There is a clinical study showing that a person with sensitive skin that is prone to redness and itchiness can completely recover from those symptoms after using antioxidant-rich wormwood extract for one month.
Since wormwood is an annual plant and has the advantage of being able to grow in any condition, there are no risk for the Artemis team of running out of their main ingredient. Also, wormwood that grows in Mongolia has a relatively high internal concentration due to the extreme climate. That is why the Artemis team has expressed that they plan to manufacture their products with 100% Mongolian raw ingredients.
Egshiglen B. and Oyundari G. have created a face mask, moisturising spray, eye weight and thick serum with wormwood extract. Having found a business idea, conducted laboratory research and experiments, and prepared a product, they decided to participate in the "Erdem Hackathon" competition because they faced difficulties in starting a business and acquiring production equipment.
The winner of the Mongolian version of Apprentice show, CEO of "Ard Securities" Ts. Barkhas, the founder of the NGO "Startup Mongolia“ Z. Bilegbaatar, and previous hackathon winners spent a week training the participants of the hackathon on various topics, such as how to raise investments and how to deliver their pitch. The Artemis team expressed that they learned many new skills by participating in various trainings and sessions. „We both had no prior knowledge of how to start and run a business. We are purely science people who focus on our research, analysis and product results. But thanks to the lessons we learned during the hackathon, my ability to present and give speech has greatly improved," Oyundari says gratefully.
She added: "Many innovative and interesting projects were presented at the hackathon. Every time I listened to their speech, my self-confidence dropped and I less less confident that we would win. When the winning team was announced, I was about to congratulate and applaud, but then our name was announced, I was very surprised and could not believe it."
The Artemis team aims to further expand its startup business into a fully-fledged company and introduce products containing extra-concentrated mugwort extract, which is grown only in Mongolia, to the international market.
Since 2006, Caritas Czech Republic successfully managed more than 20 projects in 15 different provinces (aimags) with particular focus on pre-school and vocational education, social work, restoring livelihood, humanitarian assistance, prevention of risks of natural disasters, agriculture, and environment and recycling in Mongolia. ‘’All for YOUth, YOUth for All’ is a EU-funded project to empower Mongolian youth and youth focused NGOs.
