Singapore’s Stick ‘Em earns $1M prize for affordable STEAM kits and digital platform, recognized for expanding access to quality education worldwide

The Hult Prize Foundation today announced the results of its Global Finals held Friday, September 5 at London’s Tate Modern, naming Stick ’Em from the National University of Singapore and Singapore University of Technology and Design as the winner of the annual $1 million USD Hult Prize.

Stick ‘Em is expanding access to quality education with an affordable STEAM kit and online platform for schools anywhere. The student-founded startup equips schools with hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math learning tools that are easy to adopt and cost a fraction of traditional resources. By combining physical kits with a digital platform, Stick ’Em makes experiential learning more engaging and accessible, particularly for underserved communities.

The annual Hult Prize challenges for-profit student entrepreneurs from around the world to create and launch businesses aimed at tackling our most pressing shared challenges. This year’s competition welcomed more than 200,000 participants from 130 countries and nearly 2,000 universities, generating 15,000 startup ideas. Each venture must align with at least one United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and must demonstrate a “triple-bottom-line” focus on people, planet, and profit.

Hult Prize CEO Lori van Dam said:

“The world is facing increasingly complex challenges. Nonprofits alone cannot fill the gaps left by the public sector, particularly while managing scarce resources and shifting donor priorities. The private sector – so often viewed as part of the problem – has a critical opportunity to be part of the solution. The Hult Prize showcases how for-profit businesses can improve the world and why investors should back more purpose-led start-ups. Stick ‘Em is an ambitious business that stood out among 15,000 startup ideas with a clear vision for global growth. I’m thrilled to congratulate them on their win and can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Eight Global Finalists

Stick ‘Em was chosen from eight finalist teams that pitched live at Tate Modern, including:

• CeluNova – Transforming pineapple waste into high-performance raw materials, including cellulose.
• EcoPack – Recycling sugarcane waste into biodegradable, high-quality packaging.
• Lir Labs – Building on-site AI water monitors to cut pollution reaction times from days to minutes.
• LOCOL – Upcycling cocoa waste into cattle feed that reduces methane emissions, boosts farmer income, and generates carbon credits.
• Sara Technology – Creating an AI-powered solution that delivers personalized speech practice for children with speech difficulties.
• S3CURA – Supporting security teams by connecting to CCTV systems and sending detailed incident alerts in under 30 seconds.
• Urbo Biotech – Transforming bioplastic-rich waste into valuable products using enzymes and microbes.

The winner was selected by a panel of global leaders in venture capital, sustainability, and entrepreneurship, including Aileen Lee, Founder Partner of Cowboy Ventures; Amal Dokhan, Managing Partner at 500 Global; Thomas Szaky, Founder & CEO of TerraCycle; and Piers Linney, Co-founder of Implement AI and former investor on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den.

A Legacy of Social Impact

For 16 years, the Hult Prize has empowered student entrepreneurs to launch self-sustaining businesses addressing pressing global challenges. The Hult Prize was launched in 2009 by a group of students at Hult International Business School and has since grown into a year-long competition engaging universities worldwide. It is funded by the Hult family, founders and owners of EF (Education First), the world’s largest private education company.

In 2024, Korion Health (University of Pittsburgh, University of Maryland) won the $1 million Hult Prize with its innovative home health monitoring kit – an electronic stethoscope and guided interface that enables patients to monitor heart and lung sounds from home. The year before, Banofi Leather (Yale University) won the Prize for transforming banana crop waste into a vegan, sustainable leather alternative for fashion products.

EF (Education First) Chairman Philip Hult said:

“EF has always been a social impact organization at heart. For 60 years, our mission has been to help people expand their horizons through education, language learning, and travel – grounded in the belief that when people connect across borders and cultures, the world becomes a little better. What excites me about the Hult Prize is seeing that same spirit alive in these young entrepreneurs. They come from every corner of the world, and while they’re competing, they’re also collaborating across cultures to build businesses that make a positive difference.”

Hult Prize is a yearlong competition that challenges student entrepreneurs to build ventures tackling the world’s most pressing issues in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Teams pitch on campuses worldwide, advancing through several elimination rounds before top startups join the Hult Prize Accelerator at Ashridge House for intensive venture development. Finalists then compete at the Global Finals for $1 million in seed funding.

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