Each year, thousands of students from around the world take part in the Hult Prize competition, which challenges young people to help solve our planet’s biggest problems through social entrepreneurship. Business ideas must align with at least one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

The big prize? One million dollars (USD) to help build the winning startup into a viable and sustainable business! 

The 2025 Hult Prize competition is now underway and several student teams from Hult International Business School are taking part. Here, we introduce you to the teams and ideas from across the Hult global campus network who hope to make a significant impact in the world.  

AGRO-AI: Hult Boston 

The AGRO-AI team is focused on improving irrigation, boosting farming efficiency, and improving food security throughout Africa.

Hult student Lamine Dabo has always been passionate about agriculture. Then, when the AI revolution began, he saw an opportunity to apply AI to agriculture in order to improve lives.  

Dabo and co-founder Babacar Thiam Ndiaye, both of whom are based on the Hult Boston campus, have been working on developing AGRO-AI since last year. The main idea behind the startup is to leverage the power of AI and ML to improve irrigation in Senegal and Africa, boosting farming efficiency and supporting governments’ food security goals. The team calls the solution “smart farming with a peaceful mind.” 

UN SDGs addressed:   

• SDG number 1: No Poverty  

• SDG number 2: Zero Hunger 

• SDG number 13: Climate Action 

Key Features of the AGRO-AI solution include solar panels, smart sensors, LoRaWan (long range wide area network), AI software, and a user-friendly interface. The result? Increased yield, decreased water usage, carbon footprint reduction, and economic growth.  

AURA: Hult Boston  

The AURA team is focused on optimizing employee well-being and hotel operations all at once. 

AURA is an AI-powered in-ear assistant designed to address inefficiencies in hospitality operations by providing real-time task guidance, smart prioritization, and multilingual support for hospitality staff.  

The B2B SaaS model also enhances workflow efficiency, reduces stress, and improves guest service, which the AURA team says will create a smarter and more sustainable hospitality experience while also optimizing employee well-being. 

The idea for the startup emerged during a business challenge on the Hult Boston campus, during which team members recognized inefficiencies in hospitality operations, particularly unclear task prioritization, communication gaps, and labor shortages, which impact both employees and guest experiences. They made it a goal to help fix the problem.  

UN SDGs addressed:  

• SDG number 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth 

• SDG number 12: Responsible Consumption and Production 

Team members Jonas Grothausmann, Maurits Lueer, Juliana Moeckel, and Luis Schropp want people to know that AURA is designed to empower hotel staff, not replace them. By combining AI and human expertise, the startup aims to improve a wide range of issues—addressing workplace efficiency, stress reduction, improved service quality, and increased employee satisfaction—all the while creating a more sustainable and people-centric hospitality industry.  

CarePlus: Hult Dubai 

The CarePlus team is focused on addressing the wellness needs of younger adults.

CarePlus is a health startup based in the UAE and created by students on the Hult Dubai campus. The startup provides personalized healthcare through customized vitamin kits, starting with a complimentary blood test that generates tailored supplement recommendations. 

Why is this important? Studies show that 45% of the vitamin users in the UAE refer to the Internet when choosing what to take, and that 50% of young users get advice from their parents. CarePlus steps in to provide them with professional advice, as well as engagement and tracking, to simplify health maintenance. CarePlus delivers daily sachets that are pre-packed and customized to each user’s needs—empowering people to attain optimal health by combining technology, skilled care, and seamless delivery. 

UN SDGs addressed: 

• SDG number 3: Good Health and Well-being  

• SDG number 12: Responsible Consumption and Production  

• SDG number 17: Partnerships for the Goals 

According to CarePlus team members Martim Dinis, Eman Hayel, Thu Le, and João Ponte, the team has been working on their startup since November 2024. The idea began with research that Martim was conducting on the benefits of tailored vitamin solutions. They say their diverse set of complementary skills is the startup’s biggest strength.

Ivy: Hult San Francisco 

The Ivy team is focused on helping students with ADHD enhance focus, productivity, and task completion—all without medication.  

Ivy is a stimulant-free, noninvasive phygital solution designed to help students with ADHD. Ivy aims to be FDA-certified as a Class I Medical Device, making it a safe, accessible, and effective non-medicinal alternative for children and students struggling with ADHD-related challenges.  The goal is to help young people engage better with learning materials, manage distractions, and improve their daily routines. 

UN SDGs addressed:  

• SDG number 3: Good Health and Well-Being 

• SDG number 4: Quality Education 

• SDG number 10: Reduced Inequalities 

Ivy was founded by Rhiannon MacKenzie, who was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 29. Her own experience inspired the startup idea, when she found herself at school and struggling to find a new physician to prescribe the medicines she had come to rely on. MacKenzie then determined that she wanted to create a device that could help her be successful in her academic and private life, despite not having access to ADHD medication. 

Ivy team members Heven Kibreab, Anna Schumann, and Yashita Shandu say they don’t want anyone to have to go through what their founder went through. They are focusing on children between the ages of 10 to 18, as early intervention is key. Ivy aims to be an “ally” that helps young people get through everyday tasks with confidence and self-assurance without relying on medications with adverse side effects, or expensive therapy sessions.    

Sensaura: Hult London 

The Sensaura team is focused on better understanding and addressing work-related stress.

When employees are happy, everyone wins. The team at Sensaura, founded by students on Hult’s London postgraduate campus, understand this and want to create a solution that revolutionizes people’s attitude toward, and at, work—for the better. 

The Sensaura platform is both an employee and manager assistance tool. The software analyzes speech and text using machine learning algorithms and formulates ways for employees to find expedient solutions to work-related stress. It also provides broader team-wide insights for managers to help them understand how workers are feeling, without compromising employee data by being too specific about any one individual. According to the team: “We make employees happier, which makes people happier.” 

UN SDGs addressed:  

•  SDG number 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth 

Team members Seth Moure, Kristóf Sarkadi, and Emily Vandaele, first came up with the idea for Sensaura while taking a Hult class last fall. They realized that many jobs in the corporate world end up draining people and causing stress. So, they decided to create something that could truly revolutionize people’s attitude toward, and at, work.  

Sensaura received plenty of early validation—including winning the London ‘On Campus’ Hult Prize event—and the team now has a working prototype for the software ready. They’ve also meticulously researched the market landscape and will be training their models this spring.