Cover image via Nestlé

Top M'sian Unis Are Competing In This Nescafé Business Challenge. Who Will Be Champions?

The grand prize winner will take home RM15,000 in prize money.

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With Malaysian universities brimming with talented students, Nestlé has introduced the Nestlé Youth Innovators Programme 2024 to unearth Malaysia's most creative future entrepreneurs.
The programme will start with a business challenge centred around the beloved coffee brand Nescafé.

The challenge, which will be running until 11 November, has gathered student teams from various universities across Malaysia to showcase their acumen and prove that they have what it takes to beat their rivals.

Put through an innovative and competitive atmosphere, these young innovators will ultimately be equipped to reimagine the world of coffee through their own unique perspectives, and “disrupt the future of coffee” for future generations.

The challenge garnered over 450 student registrations across 10 participating universities, including University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), University Utara Malaysia (UUM), Taylor's University, Sunway University, Monash University, HELP University College, and Multimedia University (MMU).

Those that make it to the grand finale will have the chance to be mentored by marketing and commercial experts from Nestlé.

There are three stages to the Nescafé Business Case Challenge:

Registration and idea submissions (1 July to 11 August): Initial entrants were given the chance to share their ideas in a video lasting between 3 to 5 minutes, after which a shortlist was drawn with selected teams moving on to the next stage.

Shortlisting stage (9 September to 4 October): Teams that moved on to this stage were given the chance to present their ideas in detail to a panel of esteemed judges for 15 minutes.

Grand finale (11 November): The selected finalists will be given the chance to pitch their idea on a larger scale at the Nestlé Malaysia headquarters. The panel will consist of high-level decision makers at Nestlé, including Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé MYSG, Juan Aranols and Business Executive Officer of Coffee, Raef Labaki.

At the end of it all, only one team will be crowned the most innovative and take home the grand prize of RM15,000. Stay tuned to find out who the winner is after the grand finale on 11 November!

Over the years, Nescafé has remained committed to empowering young Malaysians, and has used initiatives such as the Nescafé Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (NYEP) to equip them with valuable commercial skills

Image via Nestlé

The Nescafé Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (NYEP) is an ongoing initiative that allows University students to manage a fully equipped Nescafé Hub at their campus. This successful programme allows students to tap into their entrepreneurial potential and thrive in an ever-evolving commercial landscape.

Since its inception, the programme has so far trained and supported over 7,000 young entrepreneurs across 21 universities in Malaysia.

Find out more about NYEP here, and find out who the Nescafé Business Challenge winner is after the grand finale on 11 November!

This Spotlight is sponsored by Nestlé.

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