“SOCIAL GOOD” STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS FROM UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH WIN PRESTIGIOUS $1 MILLION 2024 HULT PRIZE

KORION HEALTH DEVELOPING AI-DRIVEN SCREENING TOOLS, EMPOWERING PATIENTS TO MONITOR HEALTHCARE FROM HOME

LONDON and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Hult Prize Foundation today held its Global Final and named the social impact startup Korion Health from University of Pittsburgh as the winner of the annual $1M USD Hult Prize.

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.

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 startup ideas. Every startup must align with at least one U.N. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and have a “triple bottom line” focus on people, planet, and profit. 

“Korion Health is the latest example of a social enterprise that will positively impact the world based on an innovative idea, hard work, and the ability to prove that it is possible to do well by doing good in business,” said Lori van Dam, CEO, Hult Prize. “The Hult Prize is honored to support Korion Health while raising awareness for the thousands of businesses that participated in this competition, all of which aim to do their part to help make the world better by solving our shared challenges.” 

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 15^th anniversary, Hult Prize organizers expanded the competition to “unlimited” – welcoming all social impact ideas regardless of focus area.

Korion Health was chosen for the Prize over five other teams invited to London for the Global Finals, which included:

• 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 byproduct.
• 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, startup 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 startups 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. 16 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 startup 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 startups 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.” 

ABOUT HULT PRIZE

Hult Prize inspires student entrepreneurs to solve the world’s biggest challenges through innovative social enterprises with positive global impact. Through our year-long competition, over 200,000 young people in 113 countries work to create high-impact startups that address global challenges in alignment with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. The Hult Prize started at Hult International Business School, whose academic approach and commitment to experiential learning are embedded in how the competition works. 

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SOURCE Hult Prize Foundation