UCD Business & Law graduate and Smurfit Graduate Business school student Jack Tiernan talks about his experience competing in the Global Hult Prize.
What student wouldn’t want a shot at winning $1 million? That is exactly what I thought when I first heard about the Hult Prize. It is the world’s largest student entrepreneurship competition, spreading across 120 countries annually and offering a top prize of $1 million exclusively to university students.
I was informed about the Hult Prize through my classmates Sadhbh Wood and Éibhe Kehoe while studying Business and Law at UCD. They invited me to join their team, Bean Around, for the competition. In the first phase. ten teams competed in the OnCampus round in UCD. The pitches varied from ideas like using seaweed as fertilizer to sustainable fashion. Every idea aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our concept, Bean Around, focused on repurposing spent coffee grounds into cosmetic products, which ultimately led us to victory in the UCD OnCampus round.
Next, we advanced to Lisbon, where 60 teams were pitching for one place in the global accelerator. We were very fortunate to have EY Ireland sponsor our trip. We met teams from India and Australia and even got to get a weekend away in Lisbon out of it all! At this stage, our pitch had changed significantly from the cosmetic company we pitched in UCD. In Lisbon, we pitched the cosmetics products along with a coffee-based biochar that could be used to aid in the production of biogas. This probably sounds complicated, and confusing…it was. Unfortunately, the judges thought so too, and we did not win the Lisbon Summit. However, the Hult Prize offers a second chance for certain startups who impressed the judges despite not winning. We were thrilled to learn via email that Bean Around was chosen as one of the few teams to receive this second chance. Discovering that we ranked among the top 16 teams out of 9,400 competitors was incredible. We immediately had a group call and none of us could quite believe it.
The global accelerator was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. We spent three weeks in Ashridge House, just north of London. It was more like a castle than a house, as you can see below. We lived and worked with the other 15 teams, staff, and experts in residence. The teams came from every corner of the world such as Australia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, and Mexico to name a few. Everyone in Ashridge was willing to help each other when it came to slide decks, business strategy, and public speaking. It was a unique environment, where the competition took a backseat and collaboration was truly at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Late nights were common, but we were supported by our expert in residence and a designated community manager who helped us navigate the pressure and intensity of the competition.
At the end of the global accelerator, Bean Around was named as one of the top six teams. We had come a long way from the OnCampus pitch in UCD. Although we did not win the $1 million, I think we won in so many other ways. From a personal point of view, I had the opportunity to apply the accounting, marketing, finance, and law I studied in UCD. However, more importantly, our team has made friendships within a community dedicated to creating impact-oriented businesses aligned with the UN SDGs.
Reflecting on the competition, it is challenging to pick out a stand-out moment. I take immense pride in reaching the top 6, and the fact our pitch is now available on YouTube, hopefully inspiring future competitors. However, if I were to pick my most memorable moment it would have to be the shared dinners in Ashridge House where laughter, comradery, and a sharing of cultures flourished among all 16 teams.
I am deeply grateful to Sadhbh and her sister Aisling for inviting me to join Bean Around with Éibhe for the Hult Prize. Thank you to the Najwa Khader, Raomal Perera, the UCD Innovation Academy, the Quinn School of Business, and EY Ireland for supporting us throughout. I hope this initiative will inspire future UCD students to engage in social entrepreneurship. If you are reading this and are interested in competing in the Hult Prize –just do it, you won’t regret it.
