Media Release
Udupi, May 13: Amigo, a startup founded by four students of Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE, Manipal, has been selected for the Hult Prize Global Accelerator in Boston, USA. Amigo is one of the 16 startups that was selected from 50,000+ applications from 100+ countries and will be representing South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal) on the global stage to compete for the prize of $1 million in seed capital.
The Global Accelerator is the final step before reaching the finals of the Hult Prize competition. The top 16 teams come to Boston, USA and are immersed in an intensive, 6-week program which aims to refine and build upon each team's social venture. Student entrepreneurs will be introduced to crucial business concepts such as design thinking and work hand-in-hand with Hult Prize staff and experts to take their social venture to the next level. At the conclusion of this stage of the competition, six teams are selected to move on to the Global Finals in September, where they pitch their startup to a panel of distinguished judges in New York City with the hopes of being selected as the next winner of the 1 Million USD Hult Prize. The Global Finals will be held at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, with President Bill Clinton presenting the award and delivering a keynote speech.
Founded by Arko Chattopadhyay - BTech in Mechatronics, Enrique Ferrao - BTech in Mechatronics 2022, Pranav Reddy 2022 - BTech in ECE 2022 and Priyanshu Gupta - BTech in ECE 2023, Amigo helps people have online therapy sessions with verified and trained therapists from across India in 10+ regional languages at prices starting at as low as ?499. It is a part of RazorpayRize and NASSCOM 10000 Startups. They also help businesses through their employee well-being and HR guidance services. Currently, they are building a full-stack ecosystem that offers online therapy and helps therapists monitor users’ progress between sessions.
Speaking about Amigo’s extraordinary achievement Cdr (Dr) Anil Rana, director, MIT-MAHE, said, “We are extremely proud and delighted that a startup founded by our students has been selected to compete at such a huge international platform. MIT has always encouraged students to hone their entrepreneurial skills and Amigo is an excellent example of that. Through their dedication and hard work, they have brought the conversation around mental health to the forefront. We wish them all the very best for Hult Prize Global Accelerator competition”.