Student entrepreneurs from around the world took the stage in San Francisco at last weekend’s Hult Prize 2014 regionals, vying for a trip to the final competition in New York and chance at $1 million in capital to put their social enterprise in motion.
Hundreds of teams competed globally on March 8 at Hult’s five campuses – Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai – as well as Sao Paulo. This annual focus of Hult Prize is announced each fall by Bill Clinton, who partners with Hult Prize to host the event. This year’s challenge: solving incommunicable diseases in the urban slum.
Hult San Francisco’s home team, Amrit was one of four finalists in the regional San Francisco round of the day-long competition. Forty-seven teams participated locally, pitching their ideas to panelists of high-profile Bay Area professionals. Four teams were selected to advance to the evening portion of the event, where they presented in front of the larger Hult community and their fellow competitors.
Excitement was in the air following the 2013 competition, when Hult San Francisco’s home team Pulse won the SF regionals. Amrit made the campus proud again this year, advancing to the final four. But it was the team from MIT who came out on top and will compete in the finals in New York.
The San Francisco round took over the Hult campus, as well as beautiful Levi’s Plaza, which was decked out in Hult Prize pink for the evening award ceremony. The ceremony featured a speech by members of last year’s winning Pulse team, an opera performance by Hult SF student Brandy Chi (recently crowned the winner of the annual Hult’s Got Talent competition), and an inspirational recorded thank-you message from Clinton himself. Student volunteers took photos, live tweeted, and assisted with all areas of executing the event.
Photos: Hult Media and Entertainment Club
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