The USC Marshall Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Greif Blackstone Launchpad, and Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab (BSEL) co-hosted USC’s first Hult Prize Competition, a global competition challenging young minds to develop products and services that can change the world. Sara Technology, an AI platform that facilitates young learners for whom English is a second language, won the USC campus-level competition. The Hult Prize national competition will be held on March 21-22, 2025 in Boston, MA.

This year, teams were required to create a for-profit, world-changing business idea that aligns with at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Teams of at least two members (including at least one member from USC) submitted applications in December. Following an application process, a select group was invited to work with Greif Blackstone Launchpad Senior Student Engagement Advisor Amiah Sheppard and Greif Center Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship Jessica Jackley, who provided coaching to help refine teams’ business ideas and pitch decks.

Six teams presented their final decks to students, alumni, and staff, as well as three guest judges, who are all USC Marshall alumni: Jessica Salinas ’18, co-president of New Media Ventures, Mark Spears ’80, co-founder USC Trojan Sustainability Network, and Carlos Gutierrez ’10, chief strategy officer for Larta Institute.

The event, which took place at the USC’s Popovich Hall on February 20, 2025, opened with a few words from Jackley, who is also the director of BSEL.

“I want to acknowledge something distinct and remarkable: You’ve chosen not to be part of the solution, but to create new solutions,” Jackley said. “This choice is how real, meaningful change happens in the world.”

Presenting teams included:

Sara Technology (winner): Zhonghao Shi (Viterbi), Weiji Huang ’21 (Viterbi ’21), and Jiaxin Zhang (Columbia University). Born from personal experience, Sara Tech is an AI-powered, personalized speech therapy app created to help empower parents and their learners at an affordable price point. Thus far, 190 speech-language pathologists have signed up for early access.

“We want to help children express themselves with confidence,” Zhang said. 

BioFlare (runner-up): Nam Nguyen (Dornsife), Noy Chatoyan (Iovine and Young Academy), and Jacqueline Franco (Iovine and Young Academy) — launched after its founders enrolled together in “Innovation in Engineering Design for Global Crises.” BioFlare created a compact kitchen device that turns food waste into usable, clean cooking gas. They’ve launched 17 prototypes so far, and are hoping to move to a pay model soon.

“Testing this in Ukraine helps us address the direst situations and most vulnerable people,” Chatoyan said. “We are completely changing the game.”

Planteet (runner-up): Tasnim Chowdhury (Price), Sheldon Blackwell, and Yousuf Mohammed. Addressing environmental and health issues related to microplastics in toothbrushes and floss made by leading manufacturers, Planteet offers plant-based tools to maintain dental hygiene using a miswak stick.

“How can we expect the Earth to break down plastics if our bodies aren’t genetically designed to?” Chowdhury said, mentioning that Planteet also hopes to introduce products into schools so kids can learn the benefits of plant-based oral hygiene.

Aeromed: USC students So Jung An (Marshall), Alaska Gomez-Mueller (Price), and Aryan Noori (Dornsife) — focused on expanding medical accessibility through telemedicine and drone delivery services. An has a special tie to Guam, where she said a lack of healthcare infrastructure and economic challenges make residents reliant on imports.

“The Pacific Islands are often forgotten, so choosing to enter into this area would be impactful,” An said.

EthergyX: Ethan Chriss (Marshall), Jake Oswald (Dornsife), and Bryan Chay (Marshall) — presented a smart home energy management platform that helps users save money by selling back unused electricity. Not only can individuals and families save money on energy bills through EthergyX, but the team also believes it can create flexible energy infrastructures, preventing energy surges that lead to natural disasters like wildfires.