School of Health & Wellbeing

In mid-June, five School of Health and Wellbeing (SHW) students, Joy Damilola Aiyepeku, Teresa Abonambugre, Oluwatobi Ebenezer Oni, Sagarika Vijay Limaye, and Sagnik Biswas travelled to Monterrey, Mexico to present their pitch for a social enterprise in the second round of the Hult Prize competition. The Hult Prize, sponsored by the Hult family, ‘challenges young people around the world to solve the planet's most pressing issues through social entrepreneurship’. Facilitating progress towards the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forms the foundation of all project submissions. Applicants are ultimately competing for US$1,000,000 to expand their project into a viable business. This year, the second round of the competition, the Hult Prize Summits, was held in seven locations: Nairobi, Mumbai, Boston, Monterrey, Bangkok, Dubai, and Lisbon.

The SHW students participating in the Monterrey Hult Prize Summit were one of 390 teams selected from a pool of 9,400 to progress to the second round of the competition. Currently completing the Public Health and Global Mental Health Masters Programmes, the team’s project, RAFA Health, aims to reduce preventable deaths from suicide in rural regions of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with a one-stop culturally sensitive mental telehealth solution. In the weeks leading up to the event, the students (whose countries of origin are Ghana, Nigeria, and India) worked collaboratively to develop and refine their pitch. They sought feedback and direction from the University Student Enterprise Team, as well as Laura Sharp and Mia Wilson, who accompanied them to the event.

Hosted in the Centro de Congreso on the campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey, the Hult Prize Summit in Monterrey was a spectacle, with a programme of speakers affiliated with the Hult Prize from around the globe, successful social entrepreneurs sharing their lived experiences, and government officials highlighting the value of the projects proposed. Opportunities to engage with expert guidance and training were embedded throughout the programme. Finalists and guests were fuelled with delicious local cuisine, and spirits were kept high by live musicians, which inevitably led to a room full of Latin American dance moves.

Each team had the opportunity to deliver a 4-minute pitch, which was subsequently scrutinised by the judges in a timed Q&A session. The judges then provided feedback and direction. RAFA Health were one of a minority of teams targeting mental health. The 84 social enterprise themes presented during the Summit were hugely diverse, and the progress of project development was also notably varied. Some examples that jumped out to us for their innovative approaches included:

Bioalgae: A business tackling medical industry pollution. They are developing composting alternatives to single-use plastic band aids. This team are looking for financial support to further develop the sticking component of their product.

Nutrí-Win: This team’s focus is on tackling malnutrition globally. They highlighted that 26% of Nigerian children die before their fifth birthday, and 40% face stunted growth. One of the team member’s mothers had developed a sugar-free, protein-rich, high-nutrient powder through her work as a biochemist. The product has appropriate safety permissions in place, and the team had secured funding to set up a small factory in Nigeria to allow them to fulfil sales to date. They are working with families and non-governmental organisations across West Africa to promote their product, which is based on a key food familiar to Indigenous families and could be adapted for inclusion in a wide range of meals and snacks. 

Blue Line: Using the tagline ‘women are not small men’, this team based in the United States highlighted that personal protective equipment (PPE) does not adequately fit female health care professionals, despite them comprising 75% of the workforce. To combat this, as well as the huge levels of PPE waste generated by hospitals, they were developing adjustable and reuseable gowns.

Valor: One of this team’s fathers had been impacted by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, which motivated them to explore ways to prevent depression and improve quality of life as the disease progresses. Their product engages Virtual Reality headsets to support communication in paraplegics.

Owanga: This team, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, outlined the negative impact of fluctuating energy supplies on businesses in the country. They had created rechargeable solar battery packs from recycled materials that could provide rural small businesses with sufficient power to complete the workday. They had co-ordinated drop off and collection points along bus routes to ensure that the packs could be recharged centrally and distributed to businesses regularly.

Bioparque Monarca: This enterprise is supporting butterfly farming in Columbia to reduce CO2 emissions and support local farmers.

RAFA Health’s attention-grabbing introduction explained that, globally, 80% of people with depression reside in LMICs, where stigma pertaining to mental health difficulties is high and awareness of treatment options is low. They highlighted that by the end of their pitch, six people would have taken their own life somewhere in the world. Teresa discussed her personal experience of losing her high school teacher to suicide in Ghana, which drew the audience in.

The team plans to develop an app that can be used long-term and that links users to mental health professionals within their country. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be engaged to offer mental health care in several Indigenous languages. They also plan to train app users to become mental health champions within their communities to redress stigma and raise mental health literacy. While there are huge opportunities for growth, the team’s initial target countries are Ghana and Nigeria. The project will contribute to SDG3: Good Health and Wellbeing and SDG8: Decent Work and Economic Growth by providing local mental health professionals with more job opportunities. They are motivated to drive systemic change and acknowledge the importance of community engagement to achieve this. They intend to seek partnership with Google, Johnson & Johnson, Salesforce, Microsoft, and Starbucks to further extend the reach of the project.

Unfortunately, despite clear encouragement from the judges and a lot of enthusiasm from others attending the Monterrey event, RAFA Health were not selected to move forward in the competition. From the seven Hult Prize Summits, 14 finalists are being invited to attend the Global Accelerator, a fortnight of training held in August, after which six will compete in the Global Finals. The winner of the Monterrey Hult Prize Summit was Owanga. One other team besides the winner will also be invited from each of the Summits as part of a ‘Second Chance Round’, but these teams have yet to be announced.

RAFA Health Teams’ Reflection on the Experience - Joy Damilola Aiyepeku, Teresa Abonambugre, Oluwatobi Ebenezer Oni, Sagarika Vijay Limay, Sagnik Biswas.

The Hult Prize Summit was a fulfilling experience that offered our team numerous benefits. We had the opportunity to pitch our project to an international audience and receive valuable feedback from seasoned judges in the social enterprise space. We gained insights into product development, the challenges and risks we might face, and the intricacies of funding, private equity, investor relations, and pricing for health innovation projects. Additionally, we connected with other professionals and entrepreneurs who share our passion for social impact, forming meaningful connections for potential future collaborations.

The summit was not only insightful but also enjoyable, as we immersed ourselves in Mexican culture through its food, music, and sightseeing—truly the icing on the cake. What we learnt will significantly aid us in developing our project to completion, and we are excited about the positive impact it will have on our careers. Moreover, we hope that our journey will inspire future generations of students to pursue similar opportunities and strive for excellence in their endeavours.

We gratefully acknowledge the university's support, particularly the Student Enterprise Team and the staff at the School of Health and Wellbeing, whose sponsorship and continuous support made this trip possible. Their encouragement and assistance have been instrumental in our journey towards becoming future world changers.

 

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First published: 3 July 2024