The prestigious Hult Prize at IoE Grand Finals has concluded on the beautiful day of Saturday, February 12. The contest came to an end following multiple events, orientations at colleges, 4 entrepreneurship talk series, two workshops, and two mentorship sessions. In the final, there were 18 participants which fought their way through the tough semis a few days back. Find out the winners and more below.
The finals played out in collaboration with Bajra Technologies, Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Employment, Agricultural Development Bank, Team Vertex Nepal, Impact Hub Kathmandu, and Daraz.
The event kick-started after the media coverage manager, Ms. Suniti Shrestha welcomed the audience and congratulated the 18 finalists for making it to the ultimate through the semis. This followed a short briefing on the Hult Prize and the campus director explaining the theme of the Hult Prize at IoE 2021/2022. Ms. Shrestha then addressed the sponsors and thanked media partners, community, outreach, and tech partners.
Guest speakers kick start the Hult Prize Grand Finals
The event saw keynote speeches from the Chief Strategy Officer at Bajra Technology, Mr. Shreyan Poudel. Project manager from Vertex Nepal- Mr. R Ashok Kumar, employment expert – Mr. Youbraj Basnet, the director of new Impact Hub Kathmandu- Ms. Bahar Kumar also gave their keynote speech at the event.
Later, an exciting QnA session between the participants and the judges highlighted the day. The session revolved around unique startup plans to restore the world back after COVID-19.
After this, the guests came up with motivational speeches. The first guest of the day Mr. Sanup Poudel talked about his musical journey, and his evolution. He shed light on how a musician of Nepal differs from other countries due to various factors. But he opined that the times are also changing. He then shared his experience with the Voice Nepal and called it being “phenomenal.”
Mr. Dilbhusan Pathak followed next with his motivation. He talked about his start as a journalist when the press had just gained freedom. He highlighted his life-changing experience reporting from Karnali. Pathak says witnessing underprivileged people of the mid and far western region of Nepal has shaped his personality. He shared the objective behind Tough Talk is to address the issues with tough questions.
Mr. Aakash Khadka entertained the audience with his four most popular songs. He also shared his journey as a musician, discussed his future projects, and talked about his experience with YouTube.
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Mr. Anil Keshary Shah shared his thoughts
The next guest speaker was Anil Keshary Shah, a celebrity banker of Nabil Bank. He said the future of the country depends on the vision of the youth. Meanwhile, he lamented the brain drain which could potentially push Nepal to its dark times. At last, he offered hope that the youth of today are able to create a better society.
Mr. Samir Shrestha was the next to grace the event as a guest. The popular singer shared that his songs are a combination of his imagination as well as his personal experiences. He also explained the background story behind three of the songs that he performed on the day. Shrestha enchanted had the audience enchanted with “Mana ma”, “Chaar Deewar” and “Thamana Haata”.
Oasis Thapa, a popular Indie musician then shared the history of his musical journey of over 8 years. After offering the background behind each of his requested songs, he sang “ JuniVari Lai”, “Sunna” and “Fakaula Timilai”.
Mr. Sanjog Koirala, the next guest stressed the need for personal development to attain goals in life. He explained that today’s world is dynamic and versatile and urged the audience to cultivate skills to embark on their purposes. He also asked the audience not to indulge in instant success and stay patient for sustainable success.
After all the motivational talks, and the singing gags, legendary actor Mr. Madan Krishna Shrestha took his turn to share his own life story and motivate. He shared with the audience how he met his life-long acting partner Hari Bansha Acharya and his late wife. He revisited his days at the starting phase and expressed love for his profession. The iconic actor believes that acting is not just a profession to entertain, it also carries the power to bring social change.
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Hult Prize Grand Finals Winners
Now, the time had arrived for the most anticipated moment of the day and it was the announcement of the Hult Prize Grand Finals winners. For this, Mr. Nishant Karki, the CEO of Bajra Technologies took his turn and announced Team MeasureMe.AI as the winner of the Bajra Best in Tech” award and presented the prizes. He also invited the winners to intern with them at Bajra Technologies. Mr. Madan Krishna Shrestha, announced the team to position themselves as the Second Runner-up, Team Mushoor, and Team Meem as the First Runner-up.
The Team MeasureMe.AI was declared the winner of the Hult Prize at IOE 2021-22. Each of the winning teams was presented with their respective prizes. With it, the glorious journey of the Hult Prize 2021/2022 came to a memorable end.
Did you follow the Hult Prize at IoE Grand Finals this season? Which teams did besides the winners resonated with you? Let us know below in the comments.
