Prince Labs
Prince Labs (Hult Prize Initiative)
3 Years
Program duration
100+
Student teams mentored
Multiple
Universities engaged across Nepal
National
Teams advanced to national rounds
Overview
Prince Labs was the organizational arm I co-founded to lead and operate the Hult Prize initiative at the regional level in Nepal. The Hult Prize, often called the "Nobel Prize for students" by former US President Bill Clinton, is the world's largest social entrepreneurship competition, challenging university students to solve pressing global issues through scalable, sustainable startups.
Over three years, I directed regional-level programs that guided university teams from problem identification through business model development to pitch competition. The work involved curriculum design for social entrepreneurship workshops, mentorship coordination with industry professionals, and organizing multi-day events that attracted hundreds of participants.
The initiative operated across multiple universities in Nepal, creating a pipeline of student entrepreneurs who went on to launch ventures addressing challenges in education, healthcare, agriculture, and clean energy. Several teams mentored through our programs advanced to national and international stages of the Hult Prize competition.
The Problem
Nepal's startup ecosystem lacked structured pathways for university students to transition from ideas to viable social enterprises. While there was no shortage of motivation or talent, students had limited access to mentorship, business model frameworks, and pitch preparation resources. The Hult Prize provided a global framework, but local execution required building an entire support infrastructure from scratch — recruiting mentors, designing workshops, securing venues, and building partnerships with universities.
My Role
Co-founder & Regional Director
As co-founder and regional director, I was responsible for end-to-end program execution: recruiting and training organizing committees at partner universities, designing the workshop curriculum covering lean startup methodology and social impact measurement, coordinating mentorship sessions with entrepreneurs and industry professionals, managing event logistics for competitions serving hundreds of participants, and evaluating teams for advancement to national rounds.
The Approach
We built a repeatable playbook for running Hult Prize programs at Nepali universities. This included a standardized curriculum covering problem framing, customer discovery, lean canvas, financial modeling, and pitch delivery. Each university chapter received training materials and facilitator guides to ensure consistent quality.
Mentorship was structured in two tiers: peer mentors (former participants) handled day-to-day guidance, while industry mentors (founders, investors, NGO leaders) provided domain expertise during scheduled sessions. This hybrid model scaled mentorship without requiring excessive time commitment from senior professionals.
Events were designed to maximize learning, not just competition. Each competition included workshop days before the pitch day, ensuring all teams — not just winners — gained tangible skills and connections from the experience.
Key Features
What we built
Workshop Curriculum
Structured social entrepreneurship curriculum covering lean startup methodology, impact measurement, financial modeling, and pitch preparation.
Mentorship Network
Two-tier mentorship system connecting student teams with peer mentors and industry professionals from Nepal's startup ecosystem.
Multi-University Programs
Scalable program model deployed across multiple universities, each with locally recruited organizing committees trained on the playbook.
Competition Events
Multi-day events combining workshops, mentorship sessions, and pitch competitions, attracting hundreds of student participants.
Tech Stack
Key Lessons
What I took away from this project
Scalable programs need standardized playbooks — what can't be documented can't be replicated
Mentorship quality matters more than quantity; structured formats outperform ad-hoc introductions
Social entrepreneurship education works best when tied to real competitions with real stakes
Building a community of alumni participants creates a self-sustaining mentorship pipeline
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