2017 Hult Prize “President’s Challenge” Student Competition (USD1 Million Prize & Fully Funded to Washington D.C. USA)

Application Deadline: 23 December 2016

The 2017 Hult Prize “President’s Challenge” is “Refugees – Reawakening Human Potential” and will focus on restoring the rights and dignity of people and societies who may be, or are forced into motion due to social injustices, politics, economic pressures, climate change and war.  Hult Prize will also work to restore the rights and dignity of those currently living in informal / illegal settlements.

The aim is to reach 10M by 2022 and believe young people and their collective wisdom is the only way forward.  This challenge was selected by President Bill Clinton and announced at the 2016 Hult Prize Finals and Awards program New York. Key highlights associated with this year’s challenge:

Requirements:

• You will be asked to form a team of 3-4 students from your university and submit an application to participate at any of the five regional finals locations held in: Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai.
• Alternatively, your university may be hosting a Hult Prize@ on-campus event, in which case you can fast track your team’s participation through competing in your local university edition.

Concept of security. Silhouette of refugee men and metal fence with barbed wire on the background of night sky

Selection:

• Regional Finals will be held on March 03-04, 2017.  Approximately 50-60 teams per region, will move on to present their innovative start-up ideas to an executive jury made up of regional CEOs, Non-Profit leaders and Social Entrepreneurs.
• When you apply, you should carefully consider which regional final you would like to attend.  While we encourage you to pick a region within proximity to where you currently live, you are free to choose any of the five regions.
• A regional champion will be selected live at the conclusion of each regional final event and that team will move onto spend the summer at the world-class Hult Prize Accelerator – an innovative incubator for the start-ups of the future.

Benefits:

• Following the conclusion of your time working in the Hult Prize Accelerator, you will attend the Hult Impact Forum where the Hult Prize Global Finals will be hosted in September, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Within the meeting agenda, regional champions will pitch their start-ups in-front of a world-class audience, including Muhammad Yunus, who along with other notable global leaders will select and award the winning team the Hult Prize, along with USD1 million in start-up capital.

Timeline:

• 30 Nov 2016 Second Application Deadline
• 23 Dec 2016 Final Application Deadline 11:59pm EST
• 9 Jan 2017 Regional Finalists Announced.
• 28 Jan 2017 Flight and Hotel Proof of Booking Deadline 11:59pm EST.
• 03 Mar 2017 Regional Semi-Final Rounds of Competition Held in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai. Friday Trainings begins at 1:00pm (local time).
• 04 Mar 2017 8:00am: Hult Prize Regional Final Pitch-offs begin. 6:00pm Finals and awards ceremony. 11:00pm Afterparty.
• 1 Apr 2017 Visa’s for Hult Prize Accelerators Due.
• 15 Apr 2017 Travel Bookings for Hult Prize Accelerator Due
• 7 May 2017 Online Trainings for Hult Prize Accelerator Begins.
• 1 Jun 2017 Hult Prize Accelerator Kicks Off.
• 8 Aug 2017 Hult Prize Accelerator Final Demo Day.
• 9 Aug 2017 Students fly back home or back on the ground and begin preparing for their final pitch at The Hult Prize Finals and Awards Gala

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the 2017 Hult Prize “President’s Challenge