The final round of the Hult Prize OnCampus Competition 2025–26 at Comilla University (CoU) concluded on Friday (23 January), with Team Kagoj Dot Com securing the championship title.

Three Dot emerged as the first runner-up, while Team Trailblazer became the second runner-up. The final was held at the conference room of the Faculty of Business Studies.

The programme was moderated by Sabrina Alam and attended by Dr Md Sohrab Uddin, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

The judging panel included Tarif Mohammad Khan, National Mentor and Coach at Accelerating Bangladesh; Adnan Hossain, Founder of It’s Humanity Foundation; and Ahmed Kabir Chayan, WordPress Contributor at Hosting.com.

Among the distinguished guests were Md Aminul Islam, Bangladesh National Coordinator of the Hult Prize Foundation, and Md Abid Shahriar, Bangladesh National Community Coordinator of the Foundation.

Registration for the competition began on 26 October, with 120 teams initially signing up. After multiple screening rounds, 24 teams advanced to the semi-finals, and 10 teams qualified for the final round. The three winning teams received a combined prize money of Tk15,000.

The finalist teams were Team Outliers, Finova, CoU Impact Catalyst, Trailblazer, Prosperex, Checkmate, Power Pixel, Kagoj Dot Com 2.0, Three Dot, and Night Owl.

The event received support from multiple partners. Speed served as the title partner, RM Trading International as the silver partner, RFL as the snacks partner, Srishtishila as the fashion partner, The Business Standard as the online media partner, TBS Graduate as the youth engagement partner, Elite Palace as the hospitality partner, Bonik Barta as the media partner, Peshawari Tales, Zaitoon, and Food Haven as food partners, Strategix as the marketing partner, BYLC as the knowledge partner, XBD as the strategic partner, and Abroad Study as the higher education partner.

Speaking after the win, Fairoz Binte Zakaria, a member of the winning team, said their journey was not only about winning but also about learning. “We participated before and became second runner-up. This time, becoming champions feels special because we learned from our mistakes and grew stronger as a team,” she said.

Addressing the participants, Md Abid Shahriar said that while teams were given 10 minutes to pitch at the campus level, they would have only four minutes at the national and global stages, followed by four minutes for Q&A. He reminded the champion team to submit their required application details within 72 hours to qualify for the national round.

Md Aminul Islam highlighted the importance of youth-led innovation in building a sustainable economy. “If we want businesses to be sustainable, we need strong ideas—and those ideas will come from young people,” he said, urging students to contribute to national and global development through SDG-aligned solutions.

Judge Ahmed Kabir Chayan praised the diversity and originality of student ideas and encouraged participants to prioritise collaboration over competition. “Success lies in cooperation, humility, and continuous learning,” he said, expressing hope for even larger Hult Prize rounds at CoU in the future.

Adnan Hossain, another judge, said the event was highly inspiring and noted that his organisation is willing to support impactful youth-led projects through mentorship, networking, and financial assistance if they align with its mission.

Tarif Mohammad Khan described the experience as deeply moving and appreciated the organisers for successfully hosting an SDG-focused innovation platform.

Reflecting on the event, Anika Tabassum Sadia, Campus Director of Hult Prize at Comilla University, said the top three teams will represent CoU at the national level. She added that this year’s programme focused not only on idea generation but also on social impact initiatives, with more project-based activities planned in the coming months.