The Hult Prize Foundation is a start-up accelerator for budding young social entrepreneurs emerging from the world’s top universities. Named as “one of the top five ideas that is changing the world” by President Bill Clinton and TIME Magazine, the annual competition for the Hult Prize aims to identify and launch the most compelling social business ideas: start-up enterprises that tackle grave issu
es faced by billions of people. Winners receive USD1 million in seed capital, as well as mentorship and advice from the international business community. Each of the finalists receives pilot funding along with membership to the Clinton Global Initiative. Called the "Nobel Prize for students" by media outlets world-wide, the Hult Prize is offered in partnership with former US President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative. It is hosted and supported by Hult International Business School, and generously funded by Swedish entrepreneur Bertil Hult and his family. The aim of the Hult Prize is to breed the next generation of social entrepreneurs, and launch start-up social enterprises that can radically change the world. Open to university and college students on every continent, the Hult Prize has grown to become the world’s largest student movement for social good and the planet’s largest student-centered event. It is also the biggest student competition and crowd-sourcing platform. Each year thousands of college and university students from 140+ countries participate, and since its inception, participants have represented nearly 1,000 institutions of higher education. Competing schools included Stanford, Harvard, INSEAD, Hult International Business School, NYU, Columbia, American University Beirut, LBS, Hitotsubashi, St. Petersburg, and Mcgill University. Each year, President Bill Clinton selects a critical social problem impacting billions of the world’s most vulnerable people, and a challenge is issued. Teams of 3-4 students are challenged to develop an innovative start-up enterprise to eradicate the problem. Access to Education, Clean water, Affordable housing, Clean energy, Solar Power, Food insecurity and Healthcare. These are a few of the issues competitors have tackled since the competition’s inception in 2009. It’s a win-win for the world.
