Three startups sponsored by the Magnuson Entrepreneurship Center (NovaChirp, Net Offset, and Sea Energy) have traveled to Mexico, Portugal, and the United Arab Emirates to participate in the world’s largest social He plans to participate in the Hult Prize Challenge, an entrepreneurial competition. Sarah Morgan of the Magnuson Center.
Over the winter, the Magnuson Center hosted the 2024 DartUp Social Blueprint Challenge, a competition for social entrepreneurship pitches from undergraduate and graduate students. According to Adriana Chavira Ochoa ’24, the winning team leader, the winning team automatically qualified for the Hult Trophy.
The Hult Prize “challenges young people to solve the planet’s most pressing problems through social entrepreneurship,” the website says. The winning team will receive $1 million to fund their idea.
This year’s Hult Prize regional competitions will be held in India, Mexico, Portugal, Taiwan and the UAE, with the final round to be held in the United Kingdom in September. Ochoa and her four-member team (Andre Bouzid ’25, Paulina Cuadra ’25, Elizabeth Ding ’24, and Mike Hanrahan ’24) represent Dartmouth as the cricket powder protein startup NovaChirp. and will participate in the Lisbon Summit to be held in Portugal on June 21st. twenty two.
Ochoa said NovaChirp aims to produce cricket powder for consumption to combat climate change and malnutrition, in line with the United Nations’ key sustainable development goals.
“The goal is to fight climate change and malnutrition, especially in Mexico, where poverty rates are rising and Mexico has some of the highest obesity rates,” Ochoa said. “Our business model is business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and being located in Mexico is cheaper and allows us to maximize production.”
Ochoa said he first got the idea to use crickets to fight climate change and malnutrition when he ate crickets at a restaurant on a trip home to Mexico City about a month ago.
“After doing my own research, I found out that crickets are really nutritious, so when I heard that Mr. Magnusson was holding an idea contest, I entered it with the support of a friend,” Ochoa said. Told.
According to Ochoa, crickets are rich in “iron, calcium, and vitamin B12 than most animals,” are “packed with nutrients,” including nine amino acid prebiotics, and reproduce quickly, which can lead to malnutrition. It can be an effective solution.
“The way we consume livestock…is not sustainable,” she explained. “NovaChirp is able to operate this social enterprise in a way that is not only profitable, but of great value to humanity.”
Despite these benefits, Ochoa said the team currently struggles to overcome the stigma around insect consumption. She added that NovaChirp is currently working with food scientists to combat this bias.
“Crickets aren’t something I’m very familiar with, but I’ve always had an open mind to it,” said Bouzid, a NovaChirp team member and consultant. “When I tried it and realized how delicious it was and how effective it was, I was sold on the spot.”
Ding, who serves as NovaChirp’s chief financial officer, said he produced a film about the startup through the MAD Video Research Contest.
“I wanted to support my best friend.” [Ochoa] And I thought the idea was really interesting,” she said. “We felt like this product was really achievable.”
The research team explained that cricket protein is delivered through diet cubes similar to chicken bullion cubes sold in supermarkets.
“Our product integrates into a variety of very simple meals and is very effective in reaching areas where protein intake is low,” Ding said.
Ochoa said Novacharp will work with coaches from the ISEG Lisbon School of Economics and Management to prepare for the competition.
Two other Dartmouth teams, NET Offset and Sea Energy, entered the Hult Prize competition through an open call and were accepted to compete in the regional competition alongside NovaChirp.
NET Offset will be competing at the Monterrey Summit in Mexico on June 15th and 16th and will be supported by the Monterrey Technological Institute. The team is led by graduate student Baptiste Gibrat GR and Thayer students Michael May Th and Thomas Hue Th.
Additionally, Sea Energy will be participating in the Dubai Summit on June 21st and 22nd, collaborating with Hult International Business School. The team is led by Calvin Benson ’25, Eva Himes ’25, Emily Masuda ’24, Shamil Shaw Alem ’26, and Georgetown University student Arjun Brar.
The NovaChirp team is aiming to win the Hult Prize and emphasized that their startup aims to “change the way things are done.” [consumers] is consuming. ”
“We want consumers to move towards more sustainable options, more nutritious options, more sustainable options and contribute to the fight against climate change,” Ochoa said. .
