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By Beth Kocher Gormley, PR and Communications Manager, UCD College of Business
Materials provided by Hult Prize Foundation.

The start-up ‘Bean Around’, included team members Sadhbh Wood (Business & Law), Éibhe Kehoe (Business & Law), Jack Tiernan (Business & Law) and Sadhbh Wood’s sister and co-founder, Aisling Wood. Sadhbh, Éibhe and Jack also graduated from UCD last week and Jack began his Masters in Accounting degree at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. 

‘Bean Around’ creates sustainable exfoliating soaps and body scrubs made from 100% repurposed coffee grinds, all hand-crafted in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. 

The annual Hult Prize competition challenges for-profit student entrepreneurs from around the world to create and launch businesses aimed at tackling the most pressing challenges they see in their communities. 

This year, the competition welcomed 200,000 participants and 40,000 entrepreneurs from approximately 113 countries and 2,000 international universities who put forward 9,400 start-up ideas. Every start-up must align with at least one U.N. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and have a "triple bottom line" focus on people, planet, and profit.
 
Every year since 2010, the Hult Prize has posed a different challenge to competitors, with previous contests focused on healthcare, food insecurity, early childhood education, and sustainable fashion. This year, however, in recognition of the competition's 15th anniversary, Hult Prize organizers expanded the competition to "unlimited" – welcoming all social impact ideas regardless of focus area.

The six teams invited to London for the Global Finals included:

Korion Health is developing a home health monitoring kit that empowers patients to better understand their own healthcare, working in conjunction with its hardware design partner, Hellbender, Inc., a Pennsylvania Social Benefit Corporation. The company's flagship product is an electronic stethoscope that teaches users how to collect their own heart and lung sounds.

Bean Around (University College Dublin, Ireland): Bean Around produces "CoffChar," a type of biochar, from recycled coffee grounds. The process produces clean, renewable energy as a by-product.

HerLens (Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia): HerLens leverages artificial intelligence to enhance the accuracy of cervical cancer screenings. The company's app and device aim to improve early detection via increased screening accuracy and reduced misdiagnosis.

LothghaApp (Mansoura University, Egypt): LothghaApp provides app-based speech therapy services including access to virtual speech pathologists, learning materials, classes and support groups.

ProtonCraft (Indian Institute of Technology, India): ProtonCraft has developed proprietary technology focused on decarbonizing oil refineries by turning harmful refinery waste into an alternative energy source: hydrogen.

Xatoms (University of Toronto and Western University, Canada): Xatoms leverages quantum chemistry and AI to identify materials that purify water faster and cheaper. The company's proprietary AI identifies and validates photocatalytic molecules that could neutralize water pollutants, before quantum chemistry is employed to design photocatalytic materials (in powder form) to neutralize the target pollutant.

The competition welcomed past Hult Prize winners, current partners, and influential leaders involved with sustainability and social impact investing to serve as judges, including Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers , LinHart Group Founder and Chairman Tsun-yan Shieh, BuuPass, Inc. CEO Wyclife Omondi (winner of the 2016 Hult Prize), and Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center Vice-Chairperson Najla Al-Midfa.

The winner was announced with featured speaker, actor, start-up founder, and environmentalist Maisie Williams, who played Arya Stark on Game of Thrones. During an on-stage interview with van Dam, Williams highlighted her experience and lessons learned while launching Daisie, a digital platform that empowers creators to present their work, identify opportunities, and collaborate with others to develop and advance their careers. 

Hult Prize: Competition Overview

Hult Prize is among the largest student entrepreneurship competitions for social good – featuring 200,000 participants, 40,000 entrepreneurs, and 9,400 start-ups from 113 countries vying for a $1M investment from the Hult family, founders, owners and operators of EF Education First (EF), a leader in academic services, language learning, educational travel and cultural exchange. 

The competition started with on-campus programs at universities around the world in July 2023. Sixteen semi-finalists were chosen via online review and live events held in seven global cities, including Bangkok, Boston, Dubai, Lisbon, Monterrey, Mumbai, and Nairobi. Through August 2023, the semi-finalists worked with Hult Prize experts remotely to transform their ideas into investment-ready social ventures in advance of the Hult Prize Accelerator.

Korion Health and the semi-finalist cohort then gathered at the Hult Ashridge Campus a royal manor in Berkhamsted, UK for three weeks of intensive mentorship to prepare for the Finals. Hult Prize announced its six finalists one week before the Global Finals in London. 

"Congratulations to Korion Health and to all the outstanding participants who have showcased truly innovative start-up ideas with the potential to change our shared future for the better," added van Dam. "The social entrepreneurship movement is vibrant and growing. In the past several years, we've doubled the number of start-ups competing, while welcoming teams from nearly all of the world's top 500 universities. As we look to the future, it gives me hope that our most pressing global challenges can be solved through social enterprise."