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We challenge you to create a for-profit social venture that will deliver a measurable positive impact on people and/or the planet and support the United Nations in meeting its Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030 deadline.

📣 Reminder: Team captains must officially submit your application on our AcceleratorApp Platform here by February 28th, 2025.

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Your idea can start local, but it should have far-reaching impact. The population you help can be small, as long as your business could ultimately benefit thousands—or even millions—of people. You can focus on a specific business sector or create something that defies easy categorization

What do you have to do as an entrepreneur?

The following pages take you step-by-step through the process of competing.

Find your starting point:

These six steps are a roadmap, not a rulebook. If you already have a team, dive straight into ideation. Do you have an existing business? Fine-tune your business plan and elevate your pitch. This is your challenge—feel free to customize your approach!

Step 1: Choose an area of impact or problem to solve

To excel in the Hult Prize competition, you need a business idea you are passionate about. It must make a meaningful positive impact while solving a significant problem. Your ideas need to align with one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs present a shared vision of peace and prosperity for people and the planet.

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Watch our Design Thinking & Social Entrepreneurship and SDGs & Impact Measurement modules on the Hult Prize Digital Learning Hub to help you choose an area of impact or problem to solve.

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Questions to guide your search:

• How do you wish the world were different?
• What problems do you see in your community or personal experiences?
• What problems have directly affected you or your family?
• What makes you angry or keeps you up at night?
• What would you like to see more of in the world?
• What are you already passionate about
• What would you like to learn more about
• What do you see other companies doing that gets you excited? </aside>

Step 2: Build your team

Create a team of two to four students who are as passionate as you are about solving some of the world’s most pressing problems and creating a lasting impact by building an enterprise that aligns with at least one or more UN Sustainable Development goals. Check out our Terms & Conditions for more details regarding eligibility.

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Watch our Building Effective Teams module on the Hult Prize Digital Learning Hub to help you build your dream team.

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Secrets to a successful team:

• Aim for complementary skill sets with clear roles and responsibilities. A complete business idea requires a mix of financial knowledge, marketing and sales knowledge, effective communication, and various technical abilities. Of course, you also need people who can help you craft a unique, powerful business idea and bring it to life.
• Diverse thinking and backgrounds will strengthen your business idea and your pitch. You want teammates who provide varied perspectives. If your idea supports a specific community—people with impaired sight or families experiencing food insecurity, for example—make sure at least one member of your team can appropriately represent their voice.
• You want to be able to push and support each other. You will go through some intense situations together. That means you need a team full of respect, authenticity, self-confidence, and humility.
• Communication is key. In the Hult Prize Competition, you will be judged based on the strength of your business idea as you explain it in the pitch and supporting documentation. You can have the best idea in the world but if you can’t articulate it clearly and compellingly, your chances are low. Since the competition is held in English, we recommend you to have at least one team member who is proficient in English. </aside>

Step 3: Develop your business idea using human-centered design

Human-centered design connects your theories and ideas to the realities of your audience through user research, prototyping, and continuous feedback. Companies around the world, from start-ups to global leaders, use human-centered design to innovate, optimize, and grow.

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Watch our Design Thinking module on the Hult Prize Digital Learning Hub to develop your business idea through the process of human-centered design.

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The human-centered design process:

• Empathize. Explore your topic from the perspective of your audience.
• Define. A specific, user-centered problem you intend to solve.
• Ideate. Brainstorm solutions, from the obvious to the unexpected.
• Prototype. Build rough representations of solutions you think have potential.
• Test. Get feedback from potential users, and improve your idea. </aside>

Step 4: Develop your business plan

A great idea is not enough to win the Hult Prize and change the world. You also need to dig in and create a cohesive plan that demonstrates your ability to build a sustainable, profitable, and impactful business.

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Watch our Business Fundamentals and Marketing & Go-To-Market Strategy modules on the Hult Prize Digital Learning Hub to build your business plan.

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Your business plan should include details about:

• Your minimum viable product
• Your competitive differentiation
• Your go-to-market plan
• Financial projections
• Your business model
• Potential to disrupt and scale </aside>

Step 5: Create your pitch

Once you have a great idea and a strong business plan, you need to summarize them in a powerful pitch. Your pitch is the key to excelling in the Hult Prize Competition and winning the grand prize.

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Watch our **The Art of Pitching** module on the Hult Prize Digital Learning hub to perfect your pitch and communicate with impact.

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Every pitch is unique, but all the great ones share certain traits:

• They communicate your idea as a powerful solution to a clear problem. Your pitch will only be successful if people believe the world needs your proposed solution.
• They tell a story. Infuse the facts of your business plan with emotions and take the listener on a journey beyond the “what” to the “why” and “how.”
• They are built for a specific audience. To the judges of the Hult Prize competition, social and environmental impact are at least as important as profits.
• They sell the idea, the team, and the business, not just the product. Potential investors want to know how your business will generate strong financial returns for them. That takes more than a good product. </aside>