The Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship at New Mexico State University will host the prestigious Hult Prize competition from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, in the Corbett Center Student Union on the NMSU main campus.
This year's competition, powered by the Mike Hunt Construction Sprints program, will feature students from a diverse range of majors across NMSU, highlighting innovative ideas that tackle global challenges, advance entrepreneurship, and generate meaningful social impact.
The Hult Prize is a globally recognized competition that empowers young innovators to create social impact through entrepreneurship. Each year, it challenges university students from around the world to develop startups that tackle pressing global challenges aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Often called the "Nobel Prize for students," the Hult Prize offers mentorship, funding, and a chance to compete for a $1 million seed investment to bring their ideas to life. By championing purpose-driven innovation, the competition fosters a new generation of leaders dedicated to building a more sustainable and equitable world through business.
The Mike Hunt Construction Sprints initiative is a flagship program of the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship, created to drive business growth and innovation across industries, including construction technologies. Named in honor of Mike Hunt, vice chairman of the Hunt Companies' board of directors, the program provides NMSU students with hands-on opportunities to cultivate entrepreneurial skills, while also offering dedicated funding to help civil engineering students transform their technical expertise into real-world innovation.
"We are committed to providing NMSU students with the resources, funding, and hands-on experiences they need to innovate and lead across industries," said Carlos Murguia, director of the Hunt Center. "The program is open to all students, with special funding through the Mike Hunt Construction Sprint program supporting civil engineering innovation as part of our broader effort to foster entrepreneurial solutions that drive meaningful impact."
The winning team will advance to the national Hult Prize competition, with the location to be announced early next year. All travel, accommodation and participation expenses will be fully covered. At the national event, the team will compete against top startups from universities across the U.S. for a chance to join the prestigious digital incubator program and qualify for the Hult Prize Global Accelerator at the historic Ashridge House near London.
At the accelerator, six top teams from around the world will present their social ventures before a panel of distinguished judges, competing for the chance to be named the next winner of the US$1 million Hult Prize.
"Empowering NMSU students with the resources and opportunities to develop entrepreneurial skills and pursue visionary solutions is key to driving innovation across disciplines," said Dana Catron, interim director and CEO of Arrowhead Center. "Through initiatives like the Mike Hunt Construction Sprint program, we're not only enabling civil engineering students to reimagine the future of construction but also inspiring students from all fields to become catalysts for innovation that will shape industries and communities for generations to come."
Free tickets to attend the event are available at https://luma.com/ocm0cxmb.
For more information about the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship, contact Murguia at
The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-s-hunt-center-to-host-hult-prize-student-pitch-competition/s/cdc6a13e-a265-40a2-a18a-b250676d249b
