Hult Prize is an annual global startup competition for university students, operating in more than 3000 campuses of 121+ countries worldwide. Named as one of the “Top 5 Ideas Changing the World” by President Bill Clinton and TIME Magazine, Hult Prize aims to create and launch the most compelling social business ideas that can tackle grave issues faced by billions of people.
Eastern International University is proud to be a Hult Prize On-campus partner once again this year. At EIU, The competition officially began on December 2nd, 2020 with the attendance of more than 100 guests as part of the Kick-off Workshop.
In 2021, Hult Prize returns with a new problem for young entrepreneurs to address – Food for Good. Teams are challenged to transform food from a necessity to a vehicle for change by building food enterprises that can feed the hungry, strengthen communities, increase income and create jobs for 10 millions people before 2030.
This year, EIU has 15 teams registered to participate in the competition. For the 1st round, teams were asked to film a 4 minute introduction video for their ideas. The top 8 teams (Nouri, Lovesick girls, Green crush, Go green, Five-fruit tray, Baby shark, F4E and Accidental) were able to advance to the next round and join our 3 training sessions.
In order to prepare every team for the Final Pitching competition, we invited 3 experts in Business and Innovation for 3 training sessions to provide the teams with more guidance and support on how to effectively execute their ideas. In particular, teams were taught how to form their business mission and vision, how to deliver their pitch and how to form a financial plan for their business idea.
The much anticipated Final Pitching competition happened on December 31st, 2020 with the participation of the top 8 teams and more than 100 audience members. The Final judge panel includes Dr. Minh Huynh, Business Administration Senior Lecturer at EIU; Ms. Hien Nguyen, Finance Lecturer at EIU and Ms. Hanh Nguyen, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Lecturer at EIU and Director of Becamex Business Incubator.
The 1st prize was awarded to team Lovesick Girls who came up with the idea for a phone application that uses information provided by its users to suggest suitable cooking recipes, calories intake, diet plan, etc. Team Green Crush came second with their idea for a company that turns leftovers into paper. Both teams will represent Eastern International University at the Hult Prize SEA round.
BBI is happy to be a part of the competition journey with Ms. Hanh Nguyen, BBI’s Director as the Competition Advisor & Final Judge and Ms. Nhi Ly, BBI’s Associate as EIU Hult Prize Campus Director. Through the Hult Prize competition, we are proud to see the innovative and entrepreneurial spirits of EIU students. BBI hopes to organise many more events that can foster a more innovative and dynamic environment at EIU in the future.
For more events organised by BBI, visit here.