The HULT Prize at BUTEX-2022 was successfully completed on March 25, with Team Neoterics as the champions, and Team Infinity and Team Attention Seekers as the first and second runners-up respectively.
The competition at BUTEX (Bangladesh University of Textiles) took place in various stages, starting with the Summary Submission round which was closed on March 04. Only 12 teams qualified for the final round based on the submissions. Akif Islam, Shahriar Islam, and Atika Bashashat Tanzeem were the judges for the Summary Submission round.
The HULT Prize, one of the most prestigious entrepreneurship competitions around the world, takes place among university students annually to generate creative business ideas to solve social issues. For the last three years, the HULT prize has been an integral part of BUTEX. This year, owing to the pandemic, the competition took place online with enormous participation. Various sessions were arranged by Hult Prize at BUTEX to facilitate the learning of sustainable business planning for the participants. Designated guests who are experts in their fields spoke in the sessions, letting the participants learn directly from them. Two days before the grand finale, on March 23, a session was arranged for the benefit of the finalists titled 'Pitch Clinic and Idea Reshaping'. The session was conducted by Barisha Rabbe, senior manager, BYLC ventures.
Finally, on March 25, the grand finale of the HULT Prize at BUTEX-2022 took place online. Anchored by Siam Pibor and Zumana Tasnin, executives of the info session and workshops, the finals consisted of each team presenting their ideas within six minutes in an interactive session before a distinguished panel of judges. Shafin Mustafa Chowdhury, campus director of Hult Prize 2022, delivered the concluding remarks. The HULT Prize case of 2022 is expected to create employment opportunities for 2000 people by the end of 2024.
The champion team, Neoterics, pitched their idea to produce biodegradable sanitary pads using banana stem fibre, bamboo fibre and cornstarch-based bioplastics. Team Infinity and Attention Seeker, the first and second runners-up, came up respectively with the idea of developing a tailoring business and gradually expanding it to clothing brands, and an app-based online platform that will provide companion-based care service. These teams are now looking forward to the regional round.
Hult Prize at BUTEX celebrated innovation to the fullest. With so many ideas worthy of creating a difference in the world, the possibility of having the next big entrepreneur at the competition, and the hopes of creating more minds determined to break barriers, Hult Prize at BUTEX 2022 signed off.
The writer is a third-year BBA student at IBA, DU.
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