By: Nmerichukwu Igweamaka
Team Empower has emerged the winning team of the Hult Prize On- campus Event in Obafemi Awolowo Univerisity along with runner ups, Team Vanguard and Team Luminous.
Among a total of 122 registered teams, 93 teams participated in pitch deck submissions and 47 teams were eventually shortlisted to pitch their business ideas aim at solving youth unemployment to a panel of 15 RockStar judges. The competition was stiff and exciting with students pitching all sort of ideas. Team Empower emerged the overall winner of the competition, closely followed by the runner ups Team Vanguard and Team Luminous. The competition held on December 15 in Obafemi Awolowo University.
The top three teams with some of the Judges.
Team Empower with their startup, Empower Health – aims to be the largest cloud storage of medical information in Africa by providing a platform for accessibility of health records across medical institutions in developed and underdeveloped communities, creating over 10,000 jobs for youths in Nigeria by 2024 in the process.
Team Vanguard with their startup, Vanguard Ag. – aims to be the largest producer and distributor of vegetable and mushroom in Africa by incorporating new innovative technology to ease quick distribution and proper storage therefore bridging the gap in the value chain from the point of production till it gets to the final consumer.
Team Luminous with their startup, Agrolite – is creating an alternative to formal education in modern Agricultural practices by training rural youths in their indigenous languages, ultimately creating over 10,000 meaningful jobs in less than a decade and contributing to the food basket in Nigeria and beyond.
The winning teams will go on to represent Obafemi Awolowo University at the regional finals(semi-finals) of the competition to get into the Hult Prize Accelerator and to get a chance to win the grand prize of $1,000,000
47 teams (each consisting of 3-4 students) pitched their ideas to 15 Rock Star Judges
The Hult Prize is a start-up accelerator for social entrepreneurship, which brings together the brightest college and university students from around the globe to solve the world’s most pressing issues in partnership with the United Nations.
The annual initiative is the world’s largest student competition and crowd-sourcing platform with a grand prize of $1,000,000 awarded to the winning team at the United Nations by President Bill Clinton.
Teams compete through different stages by pitching their business ideas solving the United Nation’s challenge for each year- the challenge for this year being “Youth Unemployment”.
Source: TechEconomy.ng