Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Awards 2024 | Win €50,000 Cash

The World needs to hear your Idea about your Sustainable Entrepreneurial Ideas through a Medium that is just for free. Do you know you can win up to €50,000 Cash Award in the  Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Awards 2024? The YEA 2024 promises to produce the best for a Sustainable Future.

I hope you get to find all the information that will arm you to qualify for the Entrepreneurs Awards. Kindly, go through the table of contents to have an overview of what is discussed in this article.

Why Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Awards?

Unilever believes that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals can only be achieved if we all start thinking and working differently.

This translates into a real shift to meaningful partnerships and collaboration among all actors, from governments to NGOs to large corporations. Imagine what we can achieve together.

Six years ago, the Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Award was launched to honor and support the talented young innovators who face the world’s greatest environmental and social challenges and help them achieve their goals. Significant impact!

Since the start of the awards in 2013, we’ve inspired more than 5,800 young sustainable entrepreneurs and their organizations. Provisions for support and funding have been made available to 37 winners. From simple solutions that significantly impact child nutrition to innovative technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Every year, we financially help eight winners in their growth. The winner of the HRH Award, the young Prince of Wales’ sustainable entrepreneurs, receives €50,000.

Additionally, all winners will participate in a residential accelerator program powered by the Institute for Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge, followed by a year of mentoring support tailored to their needs.

This ranges from business support to personal development coaching. All that is mostly needed for the success of this entrepreneur and his or her business. Where appropriate, we encourage entrepreneurs to open doors and build new business relationships – whether at Unilever or elsewhere.

Unilever understands that the world’s problems can only be solved by the ideas and talents of a new generation of leaders and future decision-makers who are as normal as we are and the future of sustainability.

There’s also a great opportunity to support, inspire, reward, and collaborate with them to help them adapt and grow both as individuals and as businesses.

We would welcome your input if you are working on an innovative and scalable technology or initiative or know someone who contributes to one or more of these three categories.

Who can Apply for the Unilever YEA 2024?

The Opportunity is opened for International applicants who have what it takes to compete with other applicants from other countries of the world, including Africa. Applications are accepted from anyone (excluding Russia) between 18 and 35 (as of 29 June 2024).

Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Award Prizes

The Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Award will recognize eight winners, including the winner of the HRH Award in 2024.

Furthermore, the eight winners will be selected from a rigorous evaluation process conducted at the University of Cambridge by the Leadership Institute for Sustainability, culminating in video interviews with our finalist selection panels.

• All eight winners will be invited to an Accelerators program in Cambridge to personally jury-nominate a guest who will decide on the HRH Prize 2024 competition winner before their final speeches.
• Winners can practice their pitches during Cambridge Accelerator, where they work with Cambridge University experts, Unilever and other speakers and enthusiastic guests.
• The overall winner receives the HRH  Prince of Wales Sustainability Entrepreneur Award 2024.
• All winners will attend a special event in London.
• The overall winner of the “HRH Prince of Wales Sustainability Entrepreneur Award” will receive prize money of €50,000 and an individualized consultation tailored to his specific needs for 12 months.
• The remaining winners will each receive prize money of €8,500 and individual advice tailored to their specific needs for 12 months.

Check out List of Past Winners here: https://youngentrepreneursawards.unilever.com/previous-winners

How Can I Win The Unilever YEA 2024?

Unilever is looking for topnotch ideas relating to one or more of the three categories we’re focusing on:

• Improve people’s health and well-being
• Improve the health of the planet
• Contribute to a fairer and more socially inclusive world

Going beyond the idea stage, whether it’s with an initiative, product or service, and starting to make an impact, we want to hear from you. However, your sustainable entrepreneurial Idea must fall into these categories.

Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Awards Eligibility

The following requirements are expected of the YEA applicants.

• The competition is open to founders or co-founders of initiatives worldwide. They must be between 18 and 35 (as of 29 June 2024). This is except those based in Russia, due to local data protection laws.
• Initiatives must relate to at least one of the categories:
  • Improve people’s health and well-being
  • Improve the health of the planet
  • Contribute to a fairer and more socially inclusive world
• Initiatives must have grown beyond the conceptual stage to an active organization or project with quantifiable impacts. E.g. already gaining traction among local communities or other markets.
• Unilever employees are not eligible to apply, nor can entries promote Unilever or its products. However, the entrepreneur may have worked with Unilever in the past or maybe working as a third-party supplier.

Important Notice

Applicants should treat the following information with caution

• If shortlisted, entrants will be required to submit further information in the form of business or financial projections. This will be by 23 August 2024 (further guidelines will be sent to shortlisted people in the first week of August).
• When shortlisted, entrants will be required to participate in a video call with a panel on Thursday, 19 or Friday, 20 September 2024.
• If shortlisted as a winner, entrants must be exclusively available to attend all parts of the accelerator program in Cambridge, UK, following the subsequent Awards events in London, the UK, from Sunday, 24 November to Friday, 29 November. Unfortunately, the inability to attend any part of the agenda due to a competing commitment will mean the forfeiture of the program.

Judging Criteria

Applicants will be able to show these qualities:

• Initiative summary
• Ability to build a team
• Impact
• Business model, Financial plan, and growth
• Innovation and competitor awareness

Selection Criteria

• How the Awards process and prizes would impact the success of the initiative.
• How effectively can the entrepreneur engage with relevant communities and stakeholders to realize the solution’s potential?
• The level of ambition capability.
• How the initiative contributes towards achieving change in the category of choice.

Application Deadlines, Procedures & Guidelines

The submission of applications is through the Awards website. The competition opens at 00:00 BST on 07 May 2024 and closes at 23:59 BST on 30 June annually.

Only individual entries are welcome. Only one person can enter the competition if your initiative has multiple founders. Individuals seek entries, and we cannot accommodate co-founders in the competition process. Co-founders may, however, participate in the ongoing mentoring process if the winning individual agrees.

Winners will be announced in September 2024. The Awards team will then contact them to review their learning needs for the Accelerator Program.

If shortlisted, winners must be able to commit to exclusive availability from Sunday, 24 November to Friday, 29 November to attend the Accelerator Programme in Cambridge, UK, and the Awards Prize Event in London, UK. The ‘HRH The Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize’ will be awarded to an outstanding entrepreneur across all categories.

The competition will cover the cost of travel to the UK and accommodation during your stay in Cambridge and London.

However, support is available to all award winners. This is designed around the requirements through the Program and a 12 months of mentorship following the announcement of prizes.

Interestingly, all the judges involved in the Awards must sign and honor a strict confidentiality agreement (NDA) to protect your personal and business information provided during the application.

How To Apply

To enter the competition, you need to follow this link and fill in the blank details. Make sure every detail provided is correct to avoid disqualification.

Be sure to check back next year in case the application link changes.

Application link

5 Sure Tips To win the Competition

#1 See What Other People Think

See what other people think. Start asking questions. Gather opinions and see what people think of your initiative. Ask your customers what they need and what their pain points are. Be open to making changes. The more you talk to others, test solutions, and gather data, the more credible and tangible your initiative becomes.

#2 Explore The Competing Solutions

Know your competitors and see what they do well and what they don’t. This can help you build on stronger foundations instead of starting from scratch.

Explore the competing solutions. How are you different? What does that mean? Who to?

#3 Be The Expert On The Problem

We’re always talking about solutions, but the best entrepreneurs immerse themselves in the problem, studying it from all angles. Knowing the problem you are setting out to solve intimately will help you gain people’s confidence and help you understand your impact.

See how previous winners continue to make an impact.

#4 Find Out As Much As You Can

We’re not just asking about where you are today but also what you’re picturing for tomorrow. So then, find out everything about the issue you are tackling. Nonetheless, for those things, it’s not possible to know and learn the risks and how they can be managed.

#5 Know Yourself

You might have to do everything and be everyone at the beginning. Take note of what you enjoy, what you’re good at, and what comes less easily.

Only then can you build your team with diverse skills and perspectives? So, you can spend more time doing what you’re good at.

FAQ: Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Awards 2023

Conclusion

The Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Award believes in working differently other than the general belief of working in synergy by entrepreneurs.

I hope you get all the information you need to apply and qualify for the prize.

Best wishes!!!

Does this article meet your immediate needs? If yes, leave us with a 5-star rating in the Review Box below. if no, leave a comment on the comment box to express your concern or ask the question and we will get back to you as soon as possible.