The final round of the startup competition for students called ‘Beehive Startup Challenge 2024’, organised by the FPT Polytechnic College of Da Nang in collaboration with the Lien Chieu District Youth Union, has just taken place with exciting creative projects from student groups in the district.

A group of students from the Lien Chieu Senior High School won the first prize at the Beehive Startup Challenge 2024. Photo: B.V

In particular, the project ‘Developing a business model of biodegradable plastic extracted from banana stems’ by LC2 group from Lien Chieu Senior High School was highly appreciated by the judges and won the first prize. This is a project that Thai Thi Thuy Ngan, Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai and Nguyen Hong Ngoc came up with the idea and implemented for more than half a year.

1. Faced with the pollution caused by thermoplastics, three 12th grade students realised the idea of using banana stems - a familiar material in rural areas to research and develop biodegradable plastic.

“We realised that banana stems are often wasted in tropical countries, including Viet Nam. The group exploited the properties of banana stems to create biodegradable plastic, meeting the market demand for green products”, Thuy Ngan said.

After being manufactured, this biodegradable plastic can be used in the production of many different products. The group has now introduced images of experimental products with decorative items, souvenirs and office supplies.

Compared to biodegradable plastic products currently available on the market, this type of plastic is completely natural, has low input material costs, and creates products at reasonable prices.

The natural decomposition time is only about 6 months, contributing to reducing waste, thereby creating high competitiveness with the environmentally-friendly trend, increasing the efficiency of reuse, protecting the ecosystem, meeting the circular economic trend and encouraging consumers to use green products. With the support of teachers, the LC2 group actively researched and built up a sustainable business strategy.

2. With the above-mentioned content, the project was awarded the highest score by the judges of Beehive Startup Challenge 2024. However, for the members, everything is just the beginning, the foundation for a more distant future. “The message we want to convey is the awareness of environmental protection. We want to affirm that investment in this project not only brings economic potential but also opens up opportunities for a sustainable future”, Thuy Ngan said.

Sharing the joy with his students, Mr. Le Thanh Son, the Secretary of the Youth Union of the Lien Chieu Senior High School said: “Contests like Beehive Startup Challenge 2024, which are held regularly, will contribute to forming the mindset and spirit of entrepreneurship for students. This is an important factor. Even though their products are not yet, accumulating a foundation of knowledge about entrepreneurship is valuable."

According to Mr. Son, the school’s governors oriented students to participate in this project according to the criteria of approaching both the production and distribution of products. Once students complete the main curriculum and accumulate basic knowledge, the school will continue to support the perfection of this project as well as connect with partners for development.

In addition to the cited project, Beehive Startup Challenge 2024 also highlighted other creative ideas such as ‘TRELAVI - Business of decorative products from Vietnamese bamboo’ by team 5MIX from the FPT Polytechnic College of Da Nang, both developing traditional craft villages and building up a website platform connecting craftsmen to the market (the second prize); ‘Gloves for translating hieroglyphic language’ to support people with communication disabilities by TNL team from the Nguyen Trai Senior High School (the third prize).

The top 3 outstanding projects in this competition will continue to participate in the incubation programme at the Da Nang Business Incubator and represent the unit to participate in the Startup Kite 2024 organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

In addition, the top 5 final round projects will continue to receive incubation support and connection from resources of the school and Beehive - the FPT Polytechnic Startup Incubator Da Nang.

According to Director of FPT Polytechnic College of Da Nang Nguyen Dinh An, the competition helped contribute to realising the goal of creating young entrepreneurs and startups, supporting the space for exchange and promoting innovation among students in Lien Chieu District, and Da Nang as a whole.

The ‘Beehive Startup Challenge 2024’ aims at innovative startup ideas, enhancing the application of science and technology and diversifying fields such as biotechnology, developing traditional craft villages, healthcare and manufacturing focusing on positive social impacts.

After a long journey, the competition selected the 5 best from 60 startup projects to present feasible startup ideas, business, marketing and financial strategies, as well as how to shine in the market.

Reporting by BACH VIET - Translating by A.THU, V.DUNG