Activity Review | 2018 Hult Prize-GBA (Greater Bay Area) Innovation Challenge
About Hult Prize
Hult Prize, known as the "Nobel Prize of the students”, is also honored as one of the "five global creative ideas" by Time Magazine. It is a platform for young social entrepreneurs and students of leading global universities and colleges to create profitable business plans.
Hult Prize cultivates innovative and revolutionary ideas in colleges and universities of more than 100 countries such as Peking University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, University of Pennsylvania, University of Tokyo and more. In nearly a decade, Hult Prize has invested more than $50 million into social innovation through these global activities and encouraged more than a million young people to rethink the future of business. This year, Hult prize has expanded its focus to the Greater Bay Area, offering students great opportunity through Hult Prize Greater China. Under the theme of "education, environment, and health", we are looking for students with business ideas to solve global social problems together.
Publicity website: http://cide.cuhk.edu.cn/en/article/287
About the competition
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony was formally held at 9:00 a.m. on May 26. The organizer invited Mr. Callum Porter Harris, the global director of Hult Prize Foundation, Mr. Xu Dingkai, the head of the Greater China Region, to give an opening speech and the vice president of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Prof. Zhang Huacheng, as the guest speaker. The two speakers both mentioned that social innovation is the trend of the times, and the development of the Greater Bay Area will provide more opportunities for the talented people here. They hope that students can grasp the opportunity and explore their potential. The Global Shapers Community under the World Economic Forum was also invited to hold an event discussing the value of social innovation and crucial elements in business plans.
Schedule
On the first day of the challenge, participants shared their entrepreneurial ideas under the three themes of “environment, education, and health” - each person had one minute to state 1) the crux of the problem, 2) his/her solution and 3) what made him/her a good candidate for this task.
After some discussion, 60 students presented their ideas to the audiences. Participants teamed up with others according to their interests and majors. Later, they began to turn simple concepts into concrete and feasible business plans.
Guidance from Mentors
In order to give students more support, experts and mentors in different fields were invited to provide their guidance. Among them were 15 mentors from Hong Kong and Mainland China who are entrepreneurs in the field of environmental protection and medical equipment. Several of them with teaching experience shared their perspectives to help students practice their business plans.
In addition, Mr. Eric Wegerbauer, the executive creative director of Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong provided a workshop for the participants in the afternoon to show them how to quickly attract investors and decision makers. He also highlighted the necessities of having a good newsletter and encouraged students to do more practice.
Mentors
Mr. Corey Zou, Accukit Technology Limited CEO
Ms. Peggy Tse, World Bank Group Investment Specialist
Ms. Jung Soo Maeng, Bloomberg Television Journalist
Ms. Steph Lau, Bloomberg Financial Products Consultant
Mr. Tony Verb, serial entrepreneur and managing partner of Greater Bay Ventures & Advisors
Dr. Stephen Frost, Professor, School of Business, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Corporate Social Responsibility Consultancy pioneer in Asia
Mr. Cai Dongxiang, Co-founder and CEO of Chocloud Logistic Technology Co., Ltd.
Mr. He Zhihong, CEO of Eggplant Technologies and co-founder
Mr. Zhang Dong, Lecturer, Southern University of Science and Technology
Mr. Han Long, Co-founder of Shenzhen Linkmiao Robotics Technology Co., Ltd.
Dr. BOB z. CHEN, Co-founder of OXPECKER LABS LIMITED
Su Haiqiao, Chief Staff Officer of “Play and Learn”
Mr. Wen Weiga, founder of Genoval
Mr. Eric Wegerbauer, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Hong Kong
(workshop speakers)
Mr. Deng Xiaokun, Executive Director of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Cooperation Promotion Association, Director of Industrial Development Center of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Industry and Research Base
Ms. Jane Wu, Chief Investment Consultant, iNova Capital
The judges
Ms. Ada Yip, Social Entrepreneur and CEO of Urban Spring
Mr. Denis Huen, MedExo Robotics Limited CEO
Dr. Howard Lam, “the father of Minute Maid Orange” and the CO-founder and Angel investor of One Personalization
Mr CK Li, China General Manager, Soap Cycling
Callum Porter Harris, Global Director of Hult Prize Foundation
Finals
The semi-finals and finals were held on May 27th. Many outstanding students were gathered in the GBA to solve the inevitable social problems facing our society. It also set up bonuses to help the winning teams execute their ideas. The organizer invited six top performers from various industries as judges to select the top three teams. The winning teams obtained the bonus and qualification for the 2019 Hult Prize Regional Race. The champion of GBA Innovation Challenge was KACHA.
They proposed an idea regarding the recycling and reuse of food. After the event, contestants and guests all participated in a relaxed and pleasant communication session, drawing a perfect ending to the competition.
Closing ceremony
Time: 4:30-7:00pm, May 27 (Sunday)
Venue: 301 Multimedia Room, Student Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
Language of the competition: English
Participating teams
The following 15 schools registered and 150 students participated. The registration has finished now.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, City University of Hong Kong
Macau: Macau University, Macau University of Science and Technology
Shenzhen: Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Southern University of Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), and Shenzhen University of Science and Technology, Moscow
Guangzhou: South China Agricultural University, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, Jinan University
Zhuhai: Zhuhai College, Beijing Institute of Technology
Shantou: Israel Institute of Technology, Guangdong
Winning teams
Champion —— KACHA
Project Profile: In order to solve the problems of food waste, we will focus on supermarkets or fruit retailers and their consumers. We plan to install a sensor system using copper-based single-walled carbon nanotubes to cover the entire store and monitor the freshness of the fruits. We will recommend an optimal sales order and corresponding marketing strategy based on different results in different regions.
Project Highlights: We focus on new sources of food waste in this project (usually focused on the consumption side or the transportation process). By transforming existing technologies and applying them to new areas to finish the food freshness monitoring from post-sales to pre-sales, single to large-scale changes can occur. We will also use big data and machine learning to provide shops with the most appropriate marketing strategy.
Team Member: from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)
Zhou Kaicheng (Group Leader) Junior, Major in Global Supply Chain and Logistics Management
Ye Yujie Junior, Major in Finance
Wu Dingjian Junior, Major in Global Business Management
Zhang Boyu Junior, Major in Global Supply Chain and Logistics Management
Experience Sharing:
Zhou Kaicheng
This competition requires us to identify social issues that the entrepreneurs must solve in just two and a half days. We must conduct an in-depth analysis of this issue to find the root cause, and present our solutions and business models (how to sell products) creatively. Finally, we need to design a step-by-step plan to get our entrepreneur projects landed (implement plans) and make financial projections (how much money is needed, when it will be paid back, and how much social benefit it will bring).
As the leader and product technician of this team, the competition was very challenging for me. First of all, the task was very onerous. Even 20 hours before the competition, our products and core ideas were being refined again and again, so we did not rest during that time. In order to unite together and focus on the same idea, it is essential to invite our colleagues to have midnight snacks and think together (laugh). In addition to emotions, when different ideas are presented, I also need to make a decision, give reasons, and guide everyone in the same direction. At the same time, in the highly uncertain discussion of entrepreneurial plans, it is very difficult to achieve a big picture and control the overall progress. So in the last twenty hours, I will continue to ensure overall progress, and focus on the critical analysis of opening issues, visual technology and a solid project schedule.
Those who are starting up businesses also expressed their congratulations and intentions for further cooperation to us after the competition. At the same time, when thinking about social issues, we will further understand what problems our society is facing today and how difficult it is to solve them. In the end, we ourselves have also experienced a challenging brainstorming event, which gives us more insights into the framework of problem analysis.
Ye Yujie
This game is a big challenge for us. We need to complete the whole business plan around the theme of public welfare in less than two and a half days. We also have entrepreneur discussions, pitch workshops, and five mentor consultations. The urgent schedule inspired us to jump out of our comfort zone and experience tremendous growth and change in a short period of time. We learned to finish an entrepreneurial plan with both creativity and feasibility while under high pressure.
The competition also draws attention to existing social issues such as food waste that our group is devoted to, as well as issues surrounding child sex education and garbage collection that were proposed by other groups.
Thanks to Professor Lin Bilian who spared no effort to help us achieve this progress. She guided us to make breakthroughs in innovative thinking, logical thinking and the implementation of specific plans. At the same time, I also want to express my gratitude to our mentors for their guidance in the competition.
Wū Dìngjiàn
Having experienced this HULT Prize, my biggest achievement is to experience the process of starting a business from the ground up. In less than a week, we have come up with three ideas and explored their feasibility in depth. However, we often got so lost in the details of the plan that we were not able to figure them out in time and sort out the overall architecture and business logic. Fortunately, through several discussions with Prof. Lin Bilian, we gradually learned to present entrepreneurial plans with a well-organized structure. For example, starting from the social phenomenon, we will first diagnose and identify social problems and then do a market sizing. After we have a basic understanding of the target market, we will describe the idea in details, discuss its business model, and finally present a landing plan.
We have also learned an important lesson. When new ideas arise, it should be the team to build together on the idea, discuss how it can be used in business, and demonstrate how it creates value for both parties. This process can not only make a new idea more mature, but more importantly it can gradually shape and strengthen the team's confidence.
In short, we could not have achieved so much without the guidance of Professor Bilian. Many thanks to Professor Bilian for inspiring us to present plans and demonstrate skills effectively, and helping us achieve self-transcendence by overcoming constant difficulty.
Zhang Boyu
The Hult Prize gave me the opportunity to use business skills I had learned to solve social problems and benefit disadvantaged groups. In the past 72 hours, we have analyzed a number of social issues and tried to establish a business model that can benefit public welfare and operate autonomously. In discussions with people in the industry, we learnt about the current concerns and also judged a social issue from different perspectives. In the process of constantly improving the entrepreneurial plan, we also learned how to measure solutions and solve difficulties from multiple angles.
In this competition, uncovering neglected social issues and proposing completely different solutions to existing ones has become our biggest challenge. In the exchanges with other teams, we admired the perspectives they achieved (child sex education issues) and their innovative solutions (block chains), and we also recognized the limitations in our own thinking.
I am very grateful to Prof. Lin Bilian for her guidance. During the process, we have learned that innovation is not an empty concept, but a challenge to existing situations and thoughts. She helped us improve our entrepreneurial plan so that it could surpass other teams in structure, integrity and feasibility.
Second Winner - WE TOGETHER
Project Name: Adam & Eva
Project Description: Our project is a sex education app for young children aged 6 to 18. The content of the app is based on some short videos related to sex education. It also includes interesting tests and online consultation.
Project Highlights: Nowadays, short videos are more and more popular, so we combined short videos with interesting questions to raise children’s interests and make them more willing to learn. At the same time, we invited experts to solve childrens’ more practical doubts about sex.
Team Members: from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)
Li Jiayue, sophomore, major in finance
Wang Yinan, sophomore, major in marketing
Cao Yuqi, sophomore, major in humanities and social science
Gao Yinghuan, freshman, major in Applied Economics
Experience Sharing: The competition is very short with only two and a half days. We need to conceive a project that is creative, has social influence and is sustainable. Therefore, everyone is under great pressure. We express special thanks to our teammates who worked hard and stayed up all night, and mentors who gave us many suggestions.
Third winner - Environment Draft
Project Name: CyC
Project Introduction: The center of the smart recovery system is the "Visual Identification Smart Trash Bin." This is a group of trash bins that remind the user to sort the trash into the appropriate bin and establish a reward and punishment feedback system. It will be combined with the WeChat applet to give a certain amount of points or cash rewards to users who throw the rubbish into the appropriate bin. This can encourage people to classify the rubbish and establish an awareness of environmental protection. On the other hand, we will cooperate with the corresponding waste recycling company. When the smart bin is full, the system will automatically notify the recycling company to collect the classified garbage, which can help the company reduce the cost of employing labor to classify the garbage.
Our “smart recycling system” is in line with the development of an environmentally friendly society, so we will strive to obtain some government support. We believe that garbage is just a misplaced resource.
Project Highlights:(1) Intelligent
The image recognition technology of the smart trash bin can check whether the garbage is correctly classified and give feedback (through the √/× signal shown on the trash bin).
(2) Internet+
When the garbage can is full, it gives automatic feedback to the company that needs the corresponding garbage, which can greatly reduce the cost of land resources and human resources in the manual classification of waste.
(3) Unique incentive mechanism - Cycle Coin
In order to get more users involved, users can obtain Cycle coins by correctly sorting the garbage or signing in. The accumulated Cycle coins can be used to obtain cash or daily necessities. At the same time, we will also give some profits gained from the recycling company to the property management company.
Team Member: Southern University of Science and Technology
Liu Shuangqing Junior Financial Major
Yang Xu Junior Financial Major
Wang Hongdan Junior Financial Science Major
Chen Lu Junior Financial Science Major
Cao Chenyu Junior Bioinformatics Major
Hao Tian, Computer Information and Engineering Major
Experience Sharing: We learned a lot during this brief two and a half day competition. Although we are from different majors, we discussed and collaborated day and night, creating an embryonic company from scratch and fully feeling the charm and fun of business activities. In the end, when the judges and investors affirmed us, we felt a great sense of accomplishment. Of course, during the competition, we saw a lot of contestants whose English proficiency and performance were almost perfect. This us to reinforce our own skill. In short, we are very grateful to the organizers for providing this opportunity so that we can broaden our horizons and improve our capabilities.
