If a $1Million (Ksh103 Million) cheque fell on your lap, what would you innovate to change the world? Well, a Bill-Clinton backed fund is challenging innovators from local universities on pitching sessions that have already begun.
Under the theme “Harnessing the power of energy to transform the lives of 10 million people” The Hult Prize 2018 is inspired by the foundation’s mission to lead a generation to change the world through energy innovations with prize money on it.
Participants will be expected to download the challenge from The Hult Prize 2018 website to kick off the competition. The global start-up accelerator is currently a big part of the launch of for-good, for-profit startups emerging from university with over 2500 staff and volunteers around the world.
In nearly a decade, the movement has deployed more than $50M of capital into the sector and mobilized more than one million young people to re-think the future of business as it continues to breed disruptive innovation on college and university campuses across 100 plus countries.
The Hult Prize Foundation has actually been christened the “Nobel Prize for Students”. The foundation came about in 2009 after Ahmad Ashkar, then an enterprising MBA student had an idea to leverage the crowd to generate startup ideas from young people to sustainably solve the world’s most critical social challenges. Hult Prize, therefore, partnered with the new CEO to not only solve pressing challenges but also make a business out of it.
Methodology
The accelerator’s methodology that catalyzes over 50,000 students to create social enterprises every year works under igniting, educating, competing, accelerating, scaling and connecting.
In 2016, Magic bus ticketing a Kenyan startup emerged the winner. The idea that has been seen to appeal to the millennial dream of never having to talk to people on the phone ever again by booking through the platform that requires texting making it accessible to 80% of Kenyans who own mobile phones that are not necessarily smart. The startup aims to serve Sub Saharan Africa where there is a lack of real-time bus schedules.
The JKUAT team just part of the local teams is expected to pitch on Saturday and will present their ideas to a panel of judges who include Iman Cooper of BuuPass formerly Magic Bus Ticketing app.