Toronto – The world’s biggest competition for young social entrepreneurs and students gets started at the University of Toronto with an information session on October 11.
The annual competition for the Hult Prize aims to identify and launch the most compelling social business ideas—start-up enterprises that tackle grave issues faced by billions of people. Winners receive USD 1 million in seed capital, as well as mentorship and advice from the international business community. In the 2015 competition, Team Attollo, composed of MBA students and alumni from UofT’s Rotman School of the Management, reached the global final. Last year four UofT teams reached the regional finals held in Dubai, San Francisco, London UK and Shanghai.
“Teams from UofT are uniquely positioned to perform well in the Hult Prize competition due to the number of world-class programs ranging from business to public health and engineering to social work as well as the incredible diversity of the backgrounds and experiences of the students,” says Tina Assi, MBA’17, who is the Hult Prize Campus Director for the University of Toronto. “It is the cross-disciplinary teams who have traditionally been most successful in tackling these global issues.”
For the third year in a row, a special quarterfinal qualifying round will be held for the Hult Prize at the Rotman School on Saturday, December 3. Participating teams must include three to four students of any UofT faculty - including undergrads, masters and PhD students. One member may be a graduate of a UofT program. The winning team will proceed to the regional finals to be held in March 2017. The information session on October 11 will provide addition details for students who are interested in participating in the qualifying round including further details on the challenge, a review of winning strategies by past competitors, and the session will also allow students to meet students from across campus to form teams. Further information and registration for the session is online. Questions may be directed to hultprizetoronto@gmail.com.
This year’s challenge is “Refugees - Reawakening Human Potential and Restoring the Dignity of 10M People by 2022.” It will focus on restoring the rights and dignity of people and societies who may be, or are forced into motion due to social injustices, politics, economic pressures, climate change and war.
The Rotman School of Management is located in the heart of Canada’s commercial and cultural capital and is part of the University of Toronto, one of the world’s top 20 research universities. The Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables our graduates to tackle today’s global business and societal challenges. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca.
-30-
For more information:
Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
Voice 416.946.3818
E-mail mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca