Team Vayudristi has been declared the national champion of the Hult Prize Nepal 2025, following a full-day national competition hosted by AIESEC Nepal at AITM College in Lalitpur. The event brought together 48 student startup teams and 148 participants from across the country, all competing to present the most impactful and scalable business solution addressing global challenges.
Vayudristi’s winning pitch introduced an AI-powered air monitoring system that provides real-time air quality data, trained on 30 years of historical environmental information. The solution is designed to make air quality more transparent and understandable for the general public, institutions, and policymakers, with potential applications in public health, city planning, and environmental protection.
“Our mission is a global mission,” said a representative from Team Vayudristi during their acceptance remarks. “We want to prove that innovation can be done from our country as well.”
As the national champion, Team Vayudristi received:
● NPR 50,000 in seed funding from Ms. Prachi Agrawal of CNIYEF
● NPR 10,000 from Draper Startup House
● Gift hampers and vouchers from sponsors and partners
The national competition opened with speeches from Umesh Gupta, Executive Director of the Industrial Enterprise Development Institute; Dr. Basanta Joshi, Head of School at AITM College; and Subi Kafle, National Coordinator for Hult Prize Nepal.
A recorded message from Supriya Jangre, Regional Manager for Hult Prize South Asia, was also played for participants. The event was structured in two parts: a preliminary round featuring all 48 teams and a final round in which the top eight teams were selected for a second presentation and private one-on-one sessions with a panel of 11 national and international judges.
In her closing remarks, Subi Kafle emphasized the collaborative effort behind the event and its importance to Nepal’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. “What we witnessed today is the outcome of a collective effort – from stakeholders, sponsors, partners, organizers, and students – proving that platforms like these are essential to drive entrepreneurial spirit and impact in Nepal,” she said.
Team Vayudristi will go on to represent Nepal in the global Hult Prize accelerator program later this year.
