AUC Team Advances to Regional Finals of Global Hult Prize Challenge
AUC’s winning team Nexu will advance to the seventh annual regional finals of the 2016 Hult Prize Challenge. Nexu presented a mobile app that connects low-income individuals with skilled labor opportunities as well as vocational courses.
The Hult competition is a startup accelerator for social entrepreneurship created by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, which brings together university students from around the globe to solve some of the world’s most critical issues. This year’s competition focuses on finding innovative solutions that would double the income of residents living in crowded urban spaces by 2022.
“What’s great about this year’s challenge is that it’s relevant to Egypt’s crowded urban spaces situation,” said Yasmine Helmy, Hult Prize director at AUC. “I am excited that AUC’s team is actively working to provide a sustainable solution to enhance the living standards of people in need. I am confident that Nexu and the Hult Prize will lead Egypt toward a brighter future.”
The Nexu team includes mechanical engineering undergraduates Omar Thabet, Omar Wagdy and Mostafa Wafik, as well as accounting undergraduate Ahmed Abd El Fatah.
At the competition, which was held at AUC in December 2015, Nexu presented a mobile app that connects low-income individuals with skilled labor opportunities such as carpentry, plumbing, electricity, housekeeping services, home catering and other job positions. Community members living in crowded urban spaces and interested in working in these fields have the option to rely on the app as a part-time job. For consumers, the app connects them to these services, while ensuring professionalism, reliability and quality.
Recognizing the importance of training individuals that lack labor skills, the app provides vocational courses for those seeking opportunities. The courses are fully funded by Nexu and are provided through partnerships with NGOs, trade schools, workshops and skilled individuals.
The AUC team will travel to London to compete at the Hult Prize regional finals in March. In the final round, one winning team from each host city will move into a summer business incubator, where participants will receive mentorship, business and strategic planning as they prepare to present their new designed business plan. The final competition will be hosted at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting on September 29, 2016, where the winner will be selected and awarded $ 1 million in startup capital by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
“We continue to be moved by the large number of students from around the world who are capitalizing on the opportunity to develop business models that target the bottom of the pyramid,” said Ahmad Ashkar, CEO and founder of the Hult Prize. “We wish every team the best of luck and thank The American University in Cairo for supporting this initiative.”
