The HPU Startup Challenge will award $10,000 to the winning student team, which will advance to the Hult Prize Nationals to compete for the $1M prize.
HPU is the first university in Hawaiʻi to participate in the Hult Prize, a global competition where students build, scale, and pitch innovative startup ideas for a chance to win $1 million in funding.
HPU’s campus qualifier, the HPU Startup Challenge, will award $10,000 to the winning student team. Teams of students will compete for the cash prize, and the winning HPU team will advance to the Hult Prize Nationals, traveling to represent HPU in the next stage of the competition. If a team keeps advancing, later rounds can include the Global Accelerator at Ashridge House near London and the Global Finals in London.
The HPU Startup Challenge is part of the John F. Scarpa Entrepreneurial Pathway, which includes a variety of events and resources designed to spark and promote entrepreneurial thinking across HPU. Funding for the $10,000 prize comes directly from the Scarpa Entrepreneurial Pathway.
The finale will be held Feb. 26, 2026. While the official last deadline to register for the HPU Startup Challenge is Feb. 15, 2026, those who register early will be able to gain both financial and mentoring support from the Scarpa Entrepreneurial Pathway.
Eligibility requirements:
- All team members must be enrolled at HPU at the time of registration.
- Teams must include 2–4 members
- HPU finalists will compete in-person in the Feb. 26, 2026 finale (4:30-7:30 p.m.)
- All team members must be at least 18 years old by Feb. 28, 2026
- Teams must pitch a for-profit business that supports at least one UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
A workshop series will help provide a venue to meet potential teammates as well as help teams advance their ventures. The first workshop will be held Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 from 4:30-5:30 p.m., at the HPU College of Business suite (in-person at WP4-500 and virtual) and will feature Rumpa Giri, a healthcare CTO and one of HPU’s Entrepreneurs in Residence, who will speak about using AI tools to produce a demo for startup concepts.
The second workshop will be held Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. in the same hybrid locations, and feature Moe Sy, an HPU alum as well as Google technologist and startup investor. Future sessions will also include mentor meetups and pitch sessions. The sessions will be moderated by HPU Dean of the College of Business Amy Nguyen-Chyung, Ph.D., lead for the Scarpa Entrepreneurial Pathway, and startup advisor and investor.
All HPU community members are invited to attend. For more information on the HPU Startup Challenge and the Hult Prize and sign-ups, check out the Scarpa Entrepreneurial Pathway website. Those with questions can email entrepreneurial@hpu.edu.
