Teams have been announced for the Syracuse University Hult Prize on December 4. Eight student teams will participate in the social entrepreneurship idea competition that is the qualifier for a $1 million global competition sponsored by the Hult Foundation with the United Nations. The campus competition is hosted by the Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars at SU Libraries.
The “elite eight” selected to pitch in the December 4 event include:
- Cuapa Monde Conservation, Claire Chevalier, Sasha Temerte
- Gather, Nolan Kagan
- Keep Coffee Casual, Murray Lebovitz
- MUNCH Jerky, Selim Dangoor
- Orts, Daisy Leepson, William Ducott, Kevin Wu
- Viridi, Dibya Patnaik, José Arrieta, Ruth Bang, Grant Kaufman, Paige Koss
- WaxPax Solutions, Erica Morrison, Lidia Menbaeva, Daniel Hamrahi
- Yum Yum, Charis Asante-Agyei, Stefano Selanu, Oliver Ortiz
This year’s Hult challenge is Food for Good, focusing on ventures that tackle a global food-related problem and use food as a vehicle for change. It is an apt theme as the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize has just been awarded to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger and improve conditions for peace.
Former WFP director and World Food Prize laureate Catherine Bertini is the opening welcome speaker and a judge for this year’s Syracuse competition.
Other distinguished judges are experienced food entrepreneurs, innovative business professionals and food experts. They include:
- Joseph Dunaway, a veteran and Syracuse ’12 alumnus who started the company KnifeHand Nutrition, a meal prep service focused on creating healthy meals to fuel success.
- Dylan Gans, Syracuse alumnus and current Director of Growth and Marketing at Good Uncle, a quality college meal-delivery service.
- Samadhi Moreno-Rodriguez, Syracuse alum and Boston public health professional focused on health equity for vulnerable populations.
- Derek Wallace, Syracuse alum and CEO and founder of Kalamata’s Kitchen, a company opening kid’s minds to the diversity of the world through food.
The virtual competition will be held from 12 noon to 2 p.m. and is open to all who would like to view it. The link to watch is: https://bit.ly/syracuse-hult-prize-2020
The competition is being coordinated by Blackstone LaunchPad Global Fellow Claire Howard ’23, who serves as the Syracuse University campus Hult Prize Ambassador.