Hult Prize is an international competition that gives college students a chance to win ONE MILLION dollars to fund their entrepreneurial ideas. For the first time, Hult Prize will be open to SFA students.
Each year, the competition has a theme for the teams to follow, which is announced by former president Bill Clinton. This year, teams must answer the question: “Can you build a scalable, sustainable social enterprise that harnesses the power of energy to transform the lives of 10 million people by 2025?”
Slide picturing Bill Clinton at one of Hult Prize @ SFA’s info sessions. Photo by LaShauna Bell.
The competition will last all year, from Sep. 2017 to Sep. 2018. Hult Prize @ SFA will pitch their ideas in front of judges on December 2, 2017.
According to Alaa Ben Abdallah, Hult Prize @ SFA Campus Director, If the teams make it through the local and regional competitions they will win entry to an eight-week summer event where they will be fully paid, stay in a castle, receive mentorships from some of the biggest companies in the world, receive one-on-one workshops, and will get to test their ideas.
Regional competitions will take place in places like San Francisco and Boston, while global destinations could include places like London, Shanghai, Dubai, and more. The final global competition will take place in the United Nations headquarters in New York City, where teams will get to pitch their ideas in front of some of the top business people in the world, the biggest companies in the world, previous Nobel prize winners, and former president Bill Clinton.
“It’s a major deal having a competition like this at SFA because SFA is a smaller school compared to a lot of the schools that are being involved in this” said Tanya Moreno, Judges Coordinator and Public Relations Director for Hult Prize @ SFA, “This competition is being held at more than 800 campuses around the world right now.”
Even for the groups that don’t win, there are many opportunities available. “Especially in the regional competition, always there are investors there and entrepreneurs who will offer to give you a shot. Even if your idea doesn’t win you are always exposed to opportunities” said Abdallah.
Finalists are also likely to be rewarded with some funding and competitors gain valuable feedback to help them continue to develop their ideas.
All classifications and majors are welcome to compete, as long as they have an idea and a team. For students considering being a part of this global competition, Abdallah says, “You don’t have an opportunity every day to change the world. That’s why you should rethink participating in this competition”
Follow Hult Prize @ SFA on: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
To register for their training camp on November 4th and 5th visit their website here.
A Hult Prize themed pumpkin, which was brought to one of the info sessions. Photo by LaShauna Bell.