History was made on the very second Wednesday of November, 2019 as we, in OAU, hosted the biggest entrepreneurship event on campus with a massive audience inside and within the premise of the event (Oduduwa hall, OAU) in attendance to witness the pitching of innovative ideas at the third Hult Prize On-Campus Event in OAU, themed Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century: Its Environmental Impact and Technological Evolution. The crowd size was double the size of the previous years and was filled with representatives of local and global businesses, nonprofits, as well as students from OAU and all over Nigeria.
A total of 72 teams registered for the Hult Prize On-Campus event in OAU. A preliminary took place on Tuesday, November 12, 2019, in which the teams that pitched were shortlisted to 15 teams who geared up to pitch at the main event. The preliminary was held at the Institute for Entrepreneurship in OAU. Panelists for the preliminaries were Dr. Charles Jegede (Head of Entrepreneurship, Promotion Unit, IFEDS, OAU), Mr. Toyin Bamidele (Managing Business Partner, Theblueprint NG), Ms. Ife Agboola (Founder and Executive Director, Frontiers Africa Initiative), Mr. Oluwagbemiga Ojubanire (Lecturer, OAU).
These teams pitched brilliant business ideas ranging from technology to agriculture and proffered mind-blowing solutions to existing problems which alongside had a positive impact on the environment.
And as such, the event featured matching judges ranging from scientists, technology enthusiasts and engineers among which were Prof. I. O Abereijo (Acting Director, IFEDS, OAU), Mr. Chidi Nwaogu (Founder of Publiseer), Mrs. Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro (CEO of MitiMeth), Mrs. Oduwa Agboneni (Founder, Nenis Auto Care), Mr. Femi Aiki (Cofounder, Foodlocker), Mr. Jacob Sule (Executive Director, iRead To Live Initiative), Mr. Ogunbowale Olugbenga (Founder, EPower.ng), Mr. Francis Sani (Accelerator Programs Manager, NG_Hub), Mr. Toyin Bamidele (Managing Business Partner, Theblueprint NG). Amongst several other achievements, these judges are also successful entrepreneurs.
After the pitching amidst rapt attention and applauds, much deliberations were made by the judges, before the winners of the competition was announced; Team AirSync emerged as the winner of the On-Campus competition with their soon-to-launch idea of an air balloon device which could almost at the speed of light detect oil spillage, leakage, and vandalism within 3km range and 5000ft above the ground.
The first runner up was Team Ecosmart while the second runner up was Team Laminar. TEAM ECOSMART came up with an idea and a model of a portable selling stand for traders in the market that occupies lesser space and can be folded. The model is called ‘FOLDIE’. FOLDIE has a compartment for wastes, traders can also opt in to buy a FOLDIE 2.0 with a solar-powered system for supplying electricity. This idea aims to reduce congestion in market space, reduce wastes in the market and also reduce the emission of carbon gasses by using sustainable energy and also a mobile selling stand.
The second runner-up, Team LAMINAR recognized the problem of road trafficking leading to pollution, delay and road rage. They plan to create a smarter traffic control, real-time incidence detection and defaulter accountability system. Their solution is an integration of IoT and AI technology for optimal outcomes.
The winners of the intra-campus event will automatically advance to compete in any of the 26 regional finals happening around the world. The goal is to reach the accelerator in New York where there is a chance to win the grand prize of $1,000,000 and have access to mentorship throughout.
The premier entrepreneurship hub for OAU was also launched after the Director of Entrepreneurship; Prof. I. O Abereijo gave a speech on what the hub was about. OAU Spark hub, the first of its kind in OAU was established to train students and instill an entrepreneurial startup culture amongst students, inspiring them to believe that by setting up businesses, they can solve some of Nigeria’s and even Worlds most pressing challenges.
In a speech given by the Campus Director, Damilola Mogaji, he stated that the future of our economy depends on a new wave of entrepreneurs coming up with ideas, resolving to make them a reality and having a mission to create wealth and jobs. The theme for the competition is arguably the most pressing challenge we have in Nigeria and if we can solve this, a lot more other problems would have gained a solution too in the process.
OAU Spark Hub will also serve as the preparation ground for participants of the Hult Prize On-Campus event in subsequent years in OAU. A registration link for interested individuals will be generated and circulated soon therefore, students are advised to be at alert and register as early as possible.
Event sponsors this year were Great FM, Cowrywise, Farmfunded, Mitimeth, A & G Prints, AFKIT, Konnect OAU, and PIC restaurant.
More information can be sourced at www.hultprize.org
ABOUT HULT PRIZE
The Hult Prize is the Worlds biggest engine for the launch of good, for-profit startups emerging from universities with over 2500 staff and volunteers around the world. In nearly a decade, the movement has deployed more than $50M of capital into the sector and mobilized more than one million young people to re-think the future of business as it continues to breed disruptive innovation on college and university campuses across 100 plus countries.