Boise State team hopes Hult Prize goes to P.O.T.T.

Three teams from Boise State University will compete in regional finals for the Hult Prize in early March, including Team Cultivate, which won the school's Hult competition with its innovate P.O.T.T., or portable one-time toilet.

The $1 million Hult Prize is awarded in a competition that challenges teams of young people to develop innovative business ideas as social entrepreneurs. The money is used as seed funding for a team's project, which is meant to help people affected by social injustice, war and economic depression.

The Boise State teams will travel to Dubai, London and Shanghai for the regional finals, with the top team from each of those locations as well as two others earning a spot in an eight-week business incubator in Washington, D.C. The overall winner will then be chosen.
 
Team Cultivate, made up of Luke Yeates, Brandon Sams, Janice Witherspoon and Steve Silva, came up with P.O.T.T. to help people in refugee camps safely use a restroom in a way that does not promote the build up of sewage or pollute water.

Project Recover, another Boise State team, competed through an at-large bid. Composed of Austin Legg, Alexandria Allen, Cody Huckvale and Becky Davis, the team proposes a business that provides people with materials to make cultural goods, then purchases the goods to sell on an online platform, reinvesting profits in more materials.

Team Dream, consisting of Ashleigh Anderson, Jessica Bottleberghe, Ethan Lopez and Steven Gabrielsen, also competed in an at-large capacity and plans to create an online platform where refugees can share their stories.