Hult Prize Challenge 2023 on Redesigning Fashion ($1 million USD funding)

Deadline: 31 October 2022

Applications for the Hult Prize Challenge 2023 are open. The challenge helps you to imagine, test, and refine your ideas, and ultimately, bring them to life. Many of their alumni have launched high-impact businesses that have truly moved the needle.

The Hult prize inspires student entrepreneurs to solve the world’s biggest challenges through innovative social enterprise with positive global impact by hosting the world’s largest global annual student competition for game-changing business ideas.

Launched in 2009, by a group of Hult International Business School students with the support of the Hult family, founders and owners of EF Education First and benefactors of the Hult International Business School. The Hult Prize has engaged more than a million young people worldwide. Each year, 100,000+ students in 120+ countries create innovative social startups

Award                                                      

• The winning team $1 million USD in funding to make their big idea a reality.

Eligibility                                                  

• The Hult Prize Competition is open to teams of minimum 3 or maximum 4 members who are currently full- or part-time undergraduate or graduate students enrolled at a higher education institution.

The Challenge

Below is a step-by-step through the process of competing in this year’s challenge. First you’ll need to brainstorm a game-changing social venture that aligns with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and positively impacts one or more key stages of the fashion value chain. Then you’ll need to build a winning team to research the potential of your amazing idea and shape it into a successful, for-profit business with high impact.

Step 1: Align with one or more of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• In 2015, all United Nations member states adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that provide a shared vision of peace and prosperity for people and the planet. Learn more here

Step 2: Choose an area of impact in the fashion industry’s value chain that you feel passionate about.

• Sourcing
• Manufacturing
• Distribution
• Marketing
• Consumption
• Disposal
• Circularity

To be truly sustainable, the fashion industry must value people over growth. It must embrace stakeholder capitalism by empowering workers in the decision-making process and redistributing and reinvesting profits more equitably. Further, it must offset any job loss caused by technological innovation with strategic job creation and similarly insist on sustainability reporting as a factor for corporate valuation and investment.

Step 3: Build your team

• Create a team of between two and five students on your university campus who are as passionate as you are about this year’s Hult Prize Challenge 2023. Be sure to apply by the deadline.

Step 4: Explore your idea with design thinking

• All successful businesses solve a problem. Immerse yourself in the problem, then brainstorm solutions as a team using Design Thinking, an innovative approach to problem-solving developed by Ideo based on human-centered design.

Steps 5: Develop your business plan

• Once you have an idea that has real potential, dig in to create your business with components such as minimum viable product, competitive differentiation, a go-to-market plan, financial projections and a business model.

Step 6: Create your pitch

• An amazing idea isn’t enough to get you to the finals. Your team will also need to carefully craft a persuasive presentation that will really wow the judges.

Steps 7: Compete

You’ll need to make it through three qualifying rounds to compete at the Finals in Paris for the $1million prize.

Rounds 1: OnCampus [Year-round]

• Compete with other teams at your university, or apply independently through the General Application.

Round 2: Summits [June and July]

• Campus Finalists choose one of multiple cities worldwide where they compete alongside other teams worldwide for a spot at our 4-week Global Accelerator program.

Rounds 3: Global Accelerator [September]

• Semi-Finalists transform their business ideas into investment-ready social ventures with four intensive weeks of mentorship as well as preparation at a thrilling world-class destination.

Round 4: Finals [September]

• Only a select few teams will be chosen as finalists to pitch their ideas before globally renowned judges in Paris.

Visit Hult prize for further information

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