Two Yale teams advance to regional finals of Hult Prize competition
Two teams of students from Yale College have advanced to the regional finals of the Hult Prize, considered to be the world’s largest student competition.
The first team consists of Jaja Liao ’16, Hillary Ryan ’15, Luke Cartwright ’16, and Ike Lee ’15. The second team consists of Abhinav Nayar ’15, Jessica Lopez ’15, Kaity Hsieh ’15, Kara Sheppard-Jones ’15, and Hyun Seung Lee ’15. They will compete in March for $1 million in start-up funding to solve President Bill Clinton’s Healthcare Challenge.
The Hult Prize is a start-up accelerator for social entrepreneurship, which brings together college and university students from around the globe to solve the world’s most pressing issues. In partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), the organizers identify and launch social ventures that aim to solve the planet’s most pressing challenges. Student teams compete in six cities around the world for a chance to secure start-up funding to launch a sustainable social venture. The Yale teams will compete in Boston and London.
The 2014 Hult Prize will focus on the 250 million slum dwellers around the world suffering from chronic diseases who need help — a challenge personally selected by President Clinton. Each team selected was chosen from more than 10,000 applications received from over 350 colleges and universities in over 150 countries.
Following the regional finals, one winning team from each host city will participate in a summer business incubator, where participants will receive mentorship, and advisory and strategic planning as they create prototypes of their new social businesses. A final round of competition will be hosted by CGI at its annual meeting in September, where delegates will select a winning team.
