Applications for this year’s Hult Prize Competition are now live through mid-November. Hult Prize is a global initiative that works in partnership with the United Nations to get students to solve global issues through social entrepreneurship. Known as “The Nobel Prize for student startups,” Hult Prize is the world’s biggest engine for the launch of for good, for-profit startups emerging from universities. Each year Hult Prize picks a worldwide problem and challenges students to work on solving that problem through social entrepreneurship.
The on-campus competition allows winners to bypass the online application to one of 25 regional global semi-finals in the spring. One winning team from each host city will then move onto a summer business accelerator program at Hult Castle in the United Kingdom, where participants will receive mentorship as they create prototypes and develop their ventures. The final round of the Hult Prize will be hosted at the United Nations in September 2020, with a $1 million grand prize awarded to the winning team.
This year’s challenge is focused on climate change and how to build a better business for the planet. Hult Prize has released a 17-page booklet that outlines the severity of climate change and possible ways to address the problem through business. You can download the challenge here.
Your team requires at least 3 members and no more than 4, and must be composed of current students. Alumni and faculty are not allowed to be official team members.
The on-campus competition will be held Friday, November 22nd at 3 pm in Peter Graham Scholarly Commons in Bird Library. Applicants will form a 6 minute pitch about their idea to present to a panel of distinguished judges related to the fields of sustainability, energy, and social entrepreneurship.
This year’s competition will be run by returning Campus Director, Audrey Miller. Audrey is a senior dual International Relations and Political Science major in The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Audrey had the opportunity to attend a three-day gathering in London at the Hult Castle where the accelerator is held each summer, in July of 2018. Those three days encouraged Audrey’s love for social entrepreneurship and sparked her passion for the Hult Prize mission. Audrey says, “Having the opportunity to meet other students who care about changing the world is amazing, but helping other students to change the world is even better.”
To learn more about The Hult Prize visit their website, to apply for this year’s Syracuse competition apply here, and to learn more about how to get involved with The Hult Prize on campus, stop into the Blackstone LaunchPad in Bird Library or email Audrey at amille05@syr.edu.