Tec welcomes global social entrepreneurs to Hult Prize summit

Social, sustainable, and technological projects were presented by young people from more than 20 countries during the 2024 Hult Prize Summit at Tec de Monterrey’s Monterrey campus.

The Tec was one of seven venues around the world for the Hult Prize Summit semi-final, where 55 teams presented their business projects before the international final.

The Hult Prize is an international competition that more than 100,000 university students from around the world participate in each year. It aims to foster innovative and sustainable ideas which will address global challenges.

“More than 1,500 teams participate at the start of this competition. Selected teams then participate in the seven international semi-finals, each known as a Summit.

“They are held in Mumbai, Bangkok, Boston, Lisbon, Dubai, Nairobi, and Monterrey,” explained Christian Salazar, leader of the Business Development Center at the Eugenio Garza Lagüera Institute of Entrepreneurship.

In total, 55 teams from countries such as Taiwan, Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Germany, France, Scotland, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, the United States, Mexico, and Canada met at the semi-final held at the Monterrey Campus on June 14 and 15.

“For the past three years, the Monterrey campus has organized Summits with the aim of strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Monterrey,” explained Salazar.

Six of the 55 teams came from various Tec de Monterrey campuses.

“Congratulations to all the finalists; their startups will make a difference to many lives.” – Iván Rivas

The Institute of Entrepreneurship, Distritotec Innovation District, the Entrepreneurship Professors Department, and the Tec’s Community Service Department joined together to organize the 2024 Hult Prize Summit in Monterrey.

Also participating was the State Government, via the Ministries of Social Inclusion and Trade.

“All the projects presented provide important value to the entrepreneurial community.

“Congratulations to all the finalists; their startups will make a difference to many lives,” shared Iván Rivas, the Nuevo León Minister of Trade, who also served as a judge at the competition.

During the two-day competition, participants had the opportunity to take part in various activities related to entrepreneurship, such as talks from winners of previous Hult Prize competitions.

They were also able to attend networking sessions with mentors, professors, students, and members of the entrepreneurial ecosystems at Tec de Monterrey.

Supplying power to African communities

A 500-watt energy storage and distribution battery that can provide power to underserved areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was the winning presentation at the 2024 Hult Prize Summit held at Tec de Monterrey.

Owanga is the name of the project, which was developed by a group of young people from Africa who participated in the international competition and will travel to the final in London.

“Our battery can power 3 light bulbs, charge 3 phones, and run fans, a TV, or a laptop.

“It is also equipped with a geo-location system and an override switch,” said Benedict Owanga, founder of the project.

2024 Hult Prize

In order to participate in the Hult Prize, each team had to develop a project that would have a positive impact on society and address one of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year’s finalists will be selected at the seven world semi-finals that take place between June 7 and 23.

“Our aim is to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Monterrey.” - Christian Salazar.

“A single winner is chosen at each of the semi-finals, going on to join the other selected teams in Boston, where they will participate in an accelerator (workshop).

“Later, in September, they will travel to London to compete in the Hult Prize final,” said Christian Salazar.

The winning team will receive one million dollars that they can invest in their project as seed capital.

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