Hult Prize is a largescale international competition conducted annually which promotes creation of for-profit social venture creation by students on university campuses.
Every year, the competition announces a theme and through a series of competitions beginning with the ‘On Campus’ round, proceeds to identify the global winner which receives a $ 1 Mn equity-free prize towards venture development. The 2024 edition of HULT Prize Competition (187,000 participants across 1324 universities in 113 countries) has "UNLIMITED!" as it’s theme, encouraging creation of social enterprises aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At IIT Bombay, championed by the Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE, IIT Bombay) and supported by it’s Dean(Strategy) under the broad rubric of MoE’s Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC), we held a successful ‘On Campus’ round of Hult Prize competition 2023-24 spread over two months. The competition featured workshops, seminars, mentorship, and guest speaker sessions from renowned social entrepreneurs. A ten member student team drawn from various academic units of IIT Bombay helmed the event under the guidance of DSSE faculty. Fifty student teams from various academic programs at IIT Bombay enrolled for the competition, with 16 teams making it to the final qualifiers.
A jury panel comprising professors and industry experts evaluated the pitches of the student teams and identified Ashita Arnav Innovations as the winning team, and recognized three other notable teams (Onion Saverz, Aryans, and Swachh Swabhimann), based on the perceived impact and feasibility of their ideas. Ashita Arnav Innovations is a social startup dedicated to providing scientifically crafted tools contributing to the targets of SDG - 4 (Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all). They will be representing IIT Bombay in upcoming Global Summit of Hult Prize.
Hult Prize on campus program at IITB proved to be a resounding success and it has now evolved into an association with the Hult Prize Foundation wherein the upcoming international summit to be held in June at seven cities (Boston, Mumbai, Nairobi, Monterrey, Bangkok, Dubai, Lisbon), will feature IIT Bombay as a strategic implementation partner for the Mumbai edition. The seven international summits will host the 390 winning student teams from across the globe vying for top 14 spots which through a curated accelerator program, will get a final shot at the $ 1 Mn prize.
On 8th June 2024, 64 student teams from 17 countries will congregate at IIT Bombay, and by the end of the day, two teams will be nominated to the global accelerator round of the competition to be held at Ashridge Castle, UK.
DSSE, IIT Bombay wishes the very best to each student team to explore and express their entrepreneurial spirit at the global summit. Our student volunteers are eagerly looking forward to join the Hult Prize foundation to welcome them at IITB’s sylvan campus as is SINE, the foremost business incubator for tech start-ups in the country and our Office of International Relations.