2010 Challenge

Education

One Laptop Per Child

One Laptop Per Child will provide educational resources and
connects 20 million children around the world in the next ve
years using One Laptop per Child’s (OLPC) XO computer. The
laptops will be sold based on a multi-tiered pricing model where
high GDP countries, like the United States, subsidize the cost
for low GDP countries, like Kenya

2011 Challenge
Global Water Crisis

M.PAANI
University of Cambridge
m.Paani designs and implements mobile-based loyalty programs
that help communities living at the bottom of the pyramid get
the most out of their spend. Users of the m.Paani platform earn
points for their mobile phone usage or expenditure on select
consumer good products that can be monetized for products and
services – such as safe water, education, energy and healthcare
– which will improve their lives.

2012 Challenge
Energy Poverty

SUNNY MONEY
New York University Abu Dhabi
Sunny Money is now the largest seller and distributor of high
quality solar lights in Africa, where over 600 million people don’t
have access to electricity. Replacing kerosene or paraffin with
portable, affordable solar lights saves money, enables more
study time, improves health, makes a home safer and saves the
environment from harmful black carbon.

BOSTON
ASPIRE FOOD GROUP
McGill University

Aspire will empower urban slum communities by offering access

to a sustainable source of protein and nutrients.

SAN FRANCISCO
PULSE
Hult International Business School

Pulse is an SMS-based microsavings platform that tackles a root

cause of urban food insecurity.

LONDON
REEL GARDENING
University of Cape Town

Reel Gardening offers a simple and affordable way for people to

grow their own food.

DUBAI
ORIGIN
ESADE Business School

Origin is a new model of small retailing dedicated to nutrition

and social inclusion.
SHANGHAI
POSHNAM
Asian Institute of Management

Poshnam targets food leakages in the food supply chain and

redirects these leakages to urban slum dwellers.

ONLINE
SOKO TEXT
London School of Economics

SokoText is a B2B solution to urban food insecurity that creates

a virtual buyer co-operative through text messages.

2013 Challenge
Global Food Crisis

ASPIRE FOOD GROUP

McGill University
The project proposed by Aspire Food Group revolutionizes the
production, treatment and promotion of insects for
Consumption. The team from McGill University aims to
empower slum communities by facilitating access to an efficient
and sustainable source of protein and nutrients.

2014 Challenge
Global Healthcare

NANO HEALTH
Indian School of Business
NanoHealth, proposes hiring and training community health
workers, and equipping them with “Doc-in-a-Box,” a diagnostic
tool the team designed that can measure basic indicators like
blood sugar, blood pressure and blood lipids and create an
electronic health record for the patient.

The health workers are called saathi [friend], and are hired from
the community, trained and certified by the organization. They
run screening camps to diagnose patients and refer them to
partner healthcare organizations, and then follow up with the
patients frequently to make sure they are taking their medicines
or implementing lifestyle changes.

BOSTON
SWEET BITES
University of Pennsylvania

Sweet Bites uses 100% xylitol chewing gum to fight tooth decay.

SAN FRANCISCO
WI CARE
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Breaking down the barriers for global medical devices.

LONDON
BEE HEALTHY
HEC Paris

Bee Healthy is using bees to revolutionize disease detection.

DUBAI
HARAMBEE
ESADE Business School

Making basic eye-care accessible by empowering slum

communities.
SHANGHAI
REACH
York University

Providing inexpensive diabetes management through an

innovative, decentralized distribution network.

SAO PAULO
NANO HEALTH
Indian School of Business

Using innovative technology to create micro-insurance health

networks for slum dwellers.

2015 Challenge
Early Childhood Education

IMPCT
National Chengchi University
Team IMPCT’s idea is to find investors who can help improve
informal day care centers in urban slums, adding more
educational efforts and increasing enrollment. The process will
also turn local caregivers into small-business owners who
operate as a franchise. To gather capital to construct these
centers, IMPCT is developing a Web platform, Playcares, that
will introduce potential investors to the caregivers and the
communities they serve. On average, each project will take
$8,000 to get off the ground.

BOSTON
SOMOS
ESADE

SOMOS is empowering parents in urban slums, through the

media they enjoy, to build brighter futures for their children.
SAN FRANCISCO
TEMBO
University of Tampa

Empowering slum communities through home and sms based

curriculum.

LONDON
LIBROMAT
Oxford University

Libromat Hubs are community centres where caregivers share

books with their children while their laundry is done.
DUBAI
ATOLLO
University of Toronto

Talking Stickers mobilizes millions of parents to close children’s

Word Gap.

SHANGHAI
TELESTORY
Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance

Regular digitally recorded lessons delivered tomobile phones.

ONLINE
IMPCT
National Chengchi University

A full-stack solution to the problem of accessible and affordable

early childhood education in urban slums.

2016 Challenge
Crowded Urban Space
BuuPass
Earlham College
The four co-founders of BuuPass won the Hult Prize competition
with their startup company that aims to help people as much as
double their incomes with improved commuting. The group
chose Nairobi as a test location for a cell-phone-based SMS
messaging and mobile payment service to assist workers in
reserving and paying for rides on commuter buses called
Matatus.

BOSTON
BuuPass

Earlham College

BuuPass aims to connect the buses to the commuters through an o

ine technology that serves as an automated ticketing service.

SAN FRANCISCO
PROTRASH

Tecnologico de Monterrey

PROtrash will create financial incentives for communities to collect

and deliver their own trash.

LONDON
SIMPRINTS

University of Cambridge

Simprints is a simple, seamless biometric solution that allows

organizations to identify beneficiaries anytime, anywhere with just the
touch of a finger.

DUBAI
SYNERGY GLOBAL

BRAC UNIVERSITY

Synergy Global matches skilled workers from marginalzied

communities to ethical fashion brand.
SHANGHAI
MUSANA CARTS

Hult International Business School

Musana Carts provides a clean and

licensed food cart to actors of the shadow economy.

2017 Challenge
Reawakening Human Potential

2018 Challenge
Harnessing the Power of Energy