The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) recently hosted the Hult Prize Hong Kong Summit, part of the world's largest global student entrepreneurship competition, often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of student entrepreneurship." Thorani, a team designing crop loss verification mechanisms to help insurance providers assess risk and process claims, emerged as the champion of this year's competition and will represent Hong Kong in the next round of the global Hult Prize, competing for a seed fund of up to US$1 million to advance their startup venture.
Organized by the HKUST Entrepreneurship Center, the Hult Prize Hong Kong Summit brought together 16 student startup teams from local tertiary institutions. The participating projects spanned a wide range of application areas, including health technology, sports technology, smart buildings, and biotechnology. Competition was keen, with teams required to present their entrepreneurial ideas and application scenarios to a panel of judges drawn from industry, the business sector, and academia.
Among the participants, the HKUST team Smart Cool Tech, which developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven chiller optimization for commercial buildings, was awarded third place, demonstrating HKUST students' ability to integrate engineering expertise with real‑world operational needs. In addition, two other HKUST teams seized Merit Award for their projects-an AI‑powered football shin guard and performance monitoring system, and a mobile application supporting menopause health management.
Prof. Carrie LING, Director of the HKUST Entrepreneurship Center, said, "We are particularly grateful for the generous support of our main sponsors, Sino Inno Lab and the Chan Dang Social Services Foundation, whose contributions have been instrumental to the success of the event. As one of the earliest universities in Hong Kong to promote innovation and entrepreneurship education, HKUST has long supported students, faculty, and alumni through well-designed curricula, startup competitions, and cross‑sector collaboration, providing sustained and practical entrepreneurial support while fostering a vibrant innovation ecosystem.
It is therefore an honour for HKUST to serve as the inaugural host of the Hult Prize Hong Kong Summit. Seeing such a convergence of talented teams from universities across Hong Kong today is truly inspiring. I sincerely hope that this summit will serve as a launchpad, propelling our city's most promising social innovations onto the global stage. Looking ahead, we hope to further connect with both local and international partners to nurture young entrepreneurs with global perspectives and a strong sense of social responsibility, empowering them to respond collectively to global challenges."
The Hult Prize is one of the world's largest student entrepreneurship competitions, attracting approximately 18,000 student teams this year from 26 countries, including South Africa, Egypt, and the United States. HKUST-nurtured startups have also achieved notable success in past editions of the competitions. Among them, Breer, a company that repurposes surplus bread from Hong Kong bakeries into craft beer advanced to the global finals of the Hult Prize in 2022, earning a place among the final six teams and underscoring the competitiveness of HKUST‑supported student ventures on the international stage.
List of Winners:
Champion (Winner) - Thorani (CUHK)
1st Runner-up - Digital Common(s) (CUHK)
2nd Runner-up - Smart Cool Tech (HKUST)
Merit Award - OnAn Technology (HKMU)
Merit Award - HerDays (HKUST)
Merit Award - Cresento (HKUST)
