RMIT Vietnam students to compete for global social start-up prize

Tiếng Việt

RMIT Vietnam students to compete for global social start-up prize

Four RMIT Vietnam students will compete in the regional final of the Hult Prize 2017 in Shanghai on 3 and 4 March 2017.

Centre of Commerce and Management students La Thuy Tien, Dang Nguyen Nhu Quynh, Truong Quynh Anh and Bachelor of Fashion student Dang Kim Thien Huong will have the opportunity to win seed capital valued at US$1 million as well as mentorship and advice from the international business community.

The competition encourages the world's brightest business minds to compete in teams to solve the planet's biggest challenges by applying innovative thinking to create sustainable, meaningful, social start-up enterprises.

RMIT Vietnam’s team, called SayQHAT, will have the chance to meet leading international experts from multiple sectors and compete with other regional teams from Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, the Philippines, and China.

(From right) RMIT Vietnam students La Thuy Tien, Truong Quynh Anh, Dang Nguyen Nhu Quynh, and Dang Kim Thien Huong at the Vietnam National Finals for the Hult Prize 2017.

The team took the First Runner-Up prize at the recent Vietnam National Hult Prize Finals and received a two-thirds sponsorship to attend the regional final in Shanghai.

The theme of this year’s Hult Prize ‘President's Challenge’ is Refugees -Reawakening Human Potential.

RMIT Vietnam team member Dang Nguyen Nhu Quynh said her team’s idea was Chomp, a culturally diverse food subscription service aimed at giving refugees the opportunity to start meaningful jobs, as well as bring awareness to the plight of refugees as they arrive in the users’ home country.

“The primary reason we went this way was because of the potentially huge impact to – and widespread capacity of – the community,” Quynh said.

One of the challenges for the team was acquiring a large amount of new finance knowledge.

“We had to supplement our knowledge, particularly in the area of finance,” Truong Quynh Anh said, “as well as seek out the advice of our lecturers and mentors.”

La Thuy Tien emphasised that the planning, teamwork, presentation and communications skills gained at RMIT Vietnam equipped the team well and gave them confidence throughout the competition.

“The competition will be a chance for the whole team to apply our knowledge and experience gained at RMIT, learn from international teams, observe cultural differences and see another part of the world,” Tien said.

Story: Le Mong Thuy

Business and management

23 February 2017