Compassion Driving Innovation: Meet the Global Student Challenge Winners

Writer

Bridget Johnston

Bridget Johnston is a writer with an eye for all things F.W. Olin. She's most excited to tell student success stories, sharing their experiences with the broader Babson community. When she's not writing for Babson Thought & Action, she is connecting prospective students with Babson's Graduate programs through a variety of mediums, including email, print, and Babson's website. She graduated with her MFA in Fiction from Temple University and can be found in Philadelphia, befriending new dogs and embroidering.

| July 25, 2024

Winners of the 2024 Global Student Challenge

The undergraduate winners—Ignacio Gordillo Juan and Antonio López López—and the graduate winners—Elinore Cruz, Diego de La Torre Lostaunau, and Álvaro Valarezo—attend Babson Build after earning first place in the 2024 Global Student Challenge.

Listen

Preventing dangerous falls among seniors. Crafting sustainable and affordable 3D-built homes. The 2024 winners of the Babson Collaborative Global Student Challenge, a global contest that challenges undergraduate and graduate students to think of impactful business concepts, are paving the way for a higher quality of life for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

Each year, students across the Babson Collaborative member schools are asked to create a positive change through business. These students create and present a new business venture, designed to directly address the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A total of 2,990 students from 28 Collaborative member institutions took part in the 2024 Global Student Challenge, representing 21 countries, breaking records in all categories. Collectively, they presented 800 new business concepts addressing the U.N. Global Goals. Both undergraduate and graduate Challenge winners are then invited to Babson’s campus, where they further advance their venture using the resources available at Babson Build, a weeklong summer entrepreneurship bootcamp.

In addition to the Babson Build scholarship, this year’s winners received an award of $2,500, thanks to the sponsorship of Social Impact Patrons, Ramón Mendiola ’86, P’20 ’21 ’23, Sage Business, and Babson Global Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Patrons also sponsor cash prizes for runner-up teams between $1,500 and $2,000.

Get to know more about this year’s winners and their ventures:

Undergraduate Winner: NatureSole

In Ignacio Gordillo Juan’s and Antonio López López’s home country of Spain, there are roughly 223,000 serious falls among elderly people each year, 80% of which happen in their own homes. Juan and López from EDEM Business School founded NatureSole with the aim of creating a shoe worn in the home that could reduce the risks of fall-based injury while also helping older populations remain independent for longer.

Juan and López pulled from their expertise in the footwear industry to create a shoe that could be easily customizable. The shoe features a removable insert that enables doctors to modify the shoe with custom orthotics based on the wearer’s unique needs.

“For us, having the opportunity to pass different rounds internationally has proven that NatureSole has a bright future if we keep pushing the project,” Juan and López said. “It is a huge validation and recognition for our next steps.”

Undergraduate Runners-up

2nd place: Harvested Robotics (Mahindra University, India). Team members: Sai Phani Rahul Arepaka, Pranav Mogli, Nitesh Reddy, Atin Sakeer, Sanjay Pramod, George Mathew

3rd place (tie): NOVA land (Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador). Team members: María José Cabrera Quizhpe, Amanda Kaola Riofrio Macas, Ramiro David Berrú Ortiz

3rd place (tie): Extrive Innovations (Mahindra University, India). Team members: Abhishek Pratap, Ronak Oinam, Prem Ningombam, Yashaswi Matla

Graduate Winner: Wasi 3D

Nearly 40% of the world’s global population will need access to adequate housing by 2030. However, as it stands, roughly 80% of cities worldwide lack affordable housing opportunities to support their current populations.

Elinore Cruz, Diego de La Torre Lostaunau, and Álvaro Valarezo of the EAE Business School in Spain aim to revolutionize the construction industry and increase the availability of affordable housing globally by introducing accessible and affordable 3D-printed houses.

“Democratizing affordable housing is our goal as a company and as individuals, and we believe that this milestone is a significant and important step toward our journey of becoming a company that inspires the world to build more efficiently and sustainably,” de La Torre Lostaunau said.

Graduate Runnner-up

2nd place: H2nOt (EAE Business School, Spain). Team members: Alegría Vásconez, Daniel Mesa Gómez

Posted in Community, Entrepreneurial Leadership

Tagged Babson Academy, Babson Collaborative, Entrepreneurial Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Global

Latest Stories

Male college student meets with campus counselor

Here’s How Colleges Can Better Support Students’ Well-Being to Improve Their Success College students are reporting lower rates of depressive symptoms and anxiety for the third year in a row, but the mental health crisis is far from over, writes Babson College’s Ryan Travia for The Conversation.

By Ryan Travia

December 10, 2025

Posted in Insights

The Rise of Chicken, the Decline of Pizza Hut, and Other Franchising Trends Ab Igram MBA’96, of Babson’s Tariq Farid Franchise Institute, surveys the state of franchising. From the familiar names to the up-and-coming ventures, he talks chicken, sandwiches, and, uh, pet waste scooping.

By John Crawford

Senior Journalist

John Crawford

A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.

December 9, 2025

Tagged Alumni, Faculty, Franchising, Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership

Posted in Insights

The Retailing Management course with Jaylen Brown and Joel Kamm MBA’12 outside their pop-up event.

Hands-On, All-In: Babson’s Retailing Management Students Create Unforgettable Pop-Up Experience The Retailing Management class, composed of mostly fourth-year students, brought experiential learning to life, executing a campus pop-up event with Jaylen Brown’s 741 Performance brand, culminating in all they’ve learned at Babson.

By Melissa Savignano

Writer

Melissa Savignano

Melissa Savignano, a content marketing manager at Babson College, has worked in higher education for almost a decade, where she tells authentic, compelling campus and community stories. Before Babson, she managed communications for Boston University’s largest college, the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. She previously worked in client relations, helping brands of various sizes launch content marketing strategies and storytelling initiatives. When not at work, you will find her in the city of Boston, probably at the movie theater.

December 8, 2025

Tagged Campus, Class of 2026, Experiential Learning, Student Life, Undergraduate, Entrepreneurship Education

Posted in Community, Entrepreneurial Leadership

Compassion Driving Innovation: Meet the Global Student Challenge Winners