From 31 March to 2 April , the Sasin MBA 2015 start up team, Hygia Sanitation represented Southeast Asia at the Global Finals of the Global Social Venture Competition, the largest and most prestigious contest of its kind, organized by UC Berkeley and held for the very first time in Bangkok. The team made it through to the Runner Up round, equivalent to 7th equal ranking, from a starting lineup of over 500 social ventures from nearly 40 countries. Notably, Hygia was crowned the 60-Second Elevator Pitch Champion (and the accompanying $1,000 cash prize) at the Global Finals.

A week later, from 7-9 April, Hygia competed as a Semifinalist at the 25th annual New Venture Championships, the highly prestigious and one of the original postgraduate new venture plan competitions, organized by the University of Oregon in Portland, Oregon (USA). Through the team’s passionate enthusiasm and ability to draw investors’ interest, Hygia walked away as the star and Winner of the Trade Show (and the accompanying $1,500 cash prize).

Finally, on 14-16 April, Hygia made a Songkran splash in Houston, Texas, at the largest and richest postgraduate competition in the world – the mighty Rice Business Plan Competition. With a reported 750 teams from around the globe vying for one of only 42 places at the competition, over 250 judges (over 150 of whom are active investors), more than 1,000 registered attendees, and over $1.3 million in prizes to be won, the competition is now considered the “Super Bowl” of new venture postgraduate competitions and the place to be to catch the eye of investors.  Hygia was crowned the undisputed Elevator Pitch Champion. In addition, the team was also declared the Winner of the FMC Technologies Challenge Round.