UT Students Propose Bamboo to Win Clinton Global Initiative Hult Prize Challenge

A team of five UT students who propose using bamboo-fabricated products to boost the quality of life for disadvantaged children won the local competition of the Hult Prize on Friday, Nov. 21.

These students -- Mani Thangadurai MBA ’15, Vignesh Parameswaran MBA ’15, Bijen Patel ’16, Trent Lott ’15 and Caio Lombardi Amaral ’16 – will now continue to compete for a chance to win $1 million in startup capital. Their startup, called “BamBoost,” is now automatically eligible to compete in the regional finals March 13–14, 2015 in Boston, one of six global locations where regional finals are being held.

The Hult Prize, in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), is a startup accelerator for social entrepreneurship which brings together college and university students from around the globe to solve the world’s most pressing issues. This year’s theme, selected by President Bill Clinton, is Early Childhood Education in the Urban Slum and Beyond.

The six regional finalists will spend the summer at the Hult Prize Accelerator, a six-week program of intensive entrepreneurial seminars hosted by Hult International Business School, to hone their business concept and proposal.

A final round of competition will be held during the CGI annual meeting in September 2015, where the winning team will be awarded the $1 million prize.

The University of Tampa was one of approximately 75 colleges and universities chosen to host a local edition of the Hult Prize, allowing the winning team to bypass the application round and go straight to regional competition.

The annual Hult Prize competition is the world’s largest crowdsourcing platform for social good. Each year, $1 million in startup funding is awarded to the team of students that develops the most radical and breakthrough idea to solve one of the world’s toughest social challenges.

BamBoost is proposing a multi-tiered approach, selling bamboo-fiber diaper liners and toilet bags to families in urban slums, helping improve the sanitary conditions in the slums, which improves overall health. Bamboo was chosen for its renewable nature, its sustainability and the fact that it’s economical to obtain and cultivate. With the purchase of the bamboo-fiber products, the families would receive free, bamboo-based educational toys, such as building blocks, puzzles and felt puppets, along with a curriculum and instructions for their use.

“It’s not every day that you have an opportunity to change the world,” said Phil Michaels, the campus director for the Hult Prize competition at UT. “This is our chance to show the world that our institution is dedicated to using disruptive innovation to generate worldwide social impact.”

The event is sponsored by UT’s Sykes College of Business Entrepreneurship Center and Hill Ward Henderson.

“Hill Ward Henderson is pleased to support the students competing in the local edition of the Hult Prize,” said R. James “Jim” Robbins, Jr., managing shareholder of Hill Ward Henderson. “We take pride in fostering our local students in their efforts to show the world their innovative ideas to solving world’s most pressing issues.”

For more information, go to www.HultPrizeAt.com/Tampa or contact James Zebrowski at jzebrowski@ut.edu or (813) 257-3039.