The countdown is on to the Enactus World Cup

21st September 2017

72,000 young social change makers compete to make the world a better place A GLOBAL community of aspiring young social entrepreneurs converge on London later this month to take part in the international finals of the prestigious 2017 Enactus World Cup.

The event is the culmination of 12 months of intense national competitions. It draws contributions from more than 72,000 students and 1,730 universities in 36 countries, attracting the support of the world’s most responsible businesses.

Each year an Enactus country pitches for the right to host the World Cup. This year it is the turn of the UK and London will host the event from 26th September to 28th September.

The event will commence on ‘City Giving Day.’ Enactus UK chairman and prominent FTSE 250 CEO Stuart Mitchell said: "This is a huge deal for London and the UK. The Enactus UK team has worked incredibly hard over the last two years. First to win the right to host in 2017 and now, most importantly, to help the global community make the event itself a success. It's a massive logistical challenge and incredibly inspiring to be a part of.” "Many of the young people here will go on to change the world."

The Enactus World Cup event will bring together more than 3,500 competitors, academics and business leaders to watch, to judge and be inspired by their chosen teams of student entrepreneurs as they pitch their projects delivering impact for their beneficiaries to build a better world.

Key note speeches will be delivered by Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever. Starting from an opening ceremony the event will include a global cultural fair and discussion forums between business leaders and young change makers. Each team has just 17 minutes to showcase the global impact of their projects, projects that are designed to tackle major environmental and social issues. The four final round teams will present into front of all 3,500 attendees in addition to viewers in all 36 countries via live stream. The winning team will be revealed at the final ceremony on Friday afternoon.

This year, the UK team is represented by King's College London, who hope to win with a presentation of a ground-breaking venture - Light Mountain, which is an international social enterprise providing clean cooking stoves and fuel solutions to rural communities in Tanzania.

To find out more about the event please visit enactus.org/worldcup