Published on 05:27 PM, November 24, 2019

Asian University for Women (AUW) hosts Hult Prize competition

Photo: Collected

Asian University for Women has recently hosted Hult Prize competition with participation of 12 teams on its campus in Chattogram.

In partnership with the United Nations, Hult Prize Foundation, and Clinton Global Initiative, the Hult Prize is hosting college and university events around the world in search of the next game-changing start-up.

One winning team from each host city will be groomed for three months by the experts before regional final. The final round of the programme will be held in United Nation’s Head Quarter September, 2020.

The winning team will be awarded $1,000,000 prize.

AUW Hult Prize 2019 had its successful grand finale on Friday (November 22). The final day witnessed the most intense but productive competition.

The programme started by the National Anthem of nine countries including “Amar Shonar Bangla”. The first phase of the competition started around 3:00pm and had 12 teams doing their first business idea pitching, in front of the prestigious external judges.

The final round of the event started around 6:00pm with announcement of top six teams who advanced and presented their idea again in the finale. Diverse cultural performances by the students of AUW added colors to the event.

Along with the performances, token of gratitude and acknowledgement in the form of awards, was awarded to the judges, mentors and the organising team. AUW Hult Prize 2019 was exceptional because of the massive support received from the mentor professors, judges and the number of participants who had joined.

The Hult Prize Campus Director Sayma Akhter Jafrin and her core members (Anindita, Tahmina, Ulfatun Nesa, Nashiba, Mehereen, Alma, Manisha and Roshni) with other members and volunteers organised Hult Prize On Campus Grand Finale which is associated with Hult Prize Foundation.

The students of AUW could be seen in their best business persona, which really impressed the judges and ensured the reputation, the university holds Lauren Kana Chan, who is the Programme Advisor. The founder Kamal Ahmad inaugurate the programme.

Professor Panel board Dr Sharin Shajahan Naomi, Mr John Remarek, Dr Mukesh Gupta, Dr Nazim Uddin, Micheal Eaton, Dr Syed Shurid Khan were present in the programme. The Judge was Micheal Foley, CEO of Grameen Phone; Dr Mohidus Samad Khan Programme Manager, Environmental Sustainability in Textile Industries Secretary; Board of Post Graduate Studies and Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, BUET; Korvi Rakshand Dhrubo, Founder and Executive Director of JAAGO Foundation;  Monjurul Haque, CEO, Barcode;  Dr Munal Mahmood, VP of Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce and CEO of Matita, Imtiaz Alam FCA, FCMA, Chairman, Infinity Group of Companies and Corporate Support Limited were present in the programme.

A cultural show took place after the social-enterprise model show case session. The show ended up with the prize giving ceremony to the winning team.

The winners of this intra-campus event were team was “We Can” the first runner up was team “Project LAAL”.

The Gold sponsors were Raj Group, Khan Agro Group, the silver sponsors were Unilever and Pure It, The Daily Star and Radio Foorti was Newspaper and media partner.