[只有英文版本] The Standard： Igniting Innovation: Citi presents IdeaPOP! 2025 Empowers Students to Tackle Real-World Challenges
Students gazed at the stage with quiet anticipation as Aveline San, Chief Executive Officer and Banking Head, Citi Hong Kong, stepped forward to share her feedback on their pitch presentations. The results of IdeaPOP! 2025 were moments away. Yet even in this high-pressure moment, a spirit of possibility and celebration filled the room — a testament to how IdeaPOP! blends challenge with genuine enjoyment, inspiring every participant to embrace their entrepreneurial journey.
“Of the many social and community initiatives we support each year, IdeaPOP! is certainly the most fun,” Aveline San told the students. The start-up planning and pitching challenge is designed to ignite the entrepreneurial spirt of Hong Kong secondary school students, while the Final Pitch in May was pulsed with non-stop action, entertainment, and inspirations. It was a vibrant celebration of creativity, achievements, excitement, unpredictability, and adrenaline of real-life entrepreneurship. Citi returned as title sponsor of IdeaPOP! for the second year running.
“Fun” likely wasn’t top of mind for the 10 finalist teams as they arrived at the venue. After all, they were about to present their carefully crafted business plans, which are a result of weeks of research, rehearsals, and intense preparation, to a panel of top-tier C-suite executives and an audience of over 100 people.
IdeaPOP! challenges students to think like entrepreneurs, not just innovators. “I’ve joined many inter-school competitions before, but IdeaPOP! made me realize that my idea has to be financially viable to create real, long-term impact to help those in need,” says Eva Lam, a Form 5 student. This perspective is echoed by Cecilia Ho, CEO of the Lee Hysan Foundation, who notes that “social entrepreneurs must build ventures that are at least partially self-sustaining, and IdeaPOP! is helping plant this mindset in the next generation of changemakers.”
IdeaPOP! 2025 attracted 168 team registrations, a new record in its four-year history. Students were challenged to develop tech-driven solutions to tackle real-world social issues. With “Business Feasibility” as a judging criterion, teams dove deep into market research, identified underserved pain points, and built solutions and business plans that could scale.
The results are solutions that go beyond innovation, by speaking to the real, often overlooked struggles of under-resourced communities. The team from St. Paul’s Convent School, awarded 1st runner-up, focused on underprivileged girls for whom having sufficient supply of sanitary pads is a luxury. Their product tackles the stigma and health risks faced by the “period impoverished” by offering a safe, reusable alternative — helping restore dignity, confidence, and choice.
The champion team also turned a humble everyday item into something life changing. The students from Hong Kong University Graduate Association College prototyped an AI-powered system that detects early signs of eye disease by using nothing more than a smartphone camera. The idea took root after one team member met elderly individuals whose vision loss could have been prevented if only early screening were more easily accessible. Their innovation brings hope to those who suffer in silence, offering a simple tool that could protect sight before it’s too late.
Even with a standout idea and a solid business plan, young innovators often face setbacks where learning to rise from failure is part of the journey. That message was underscored by renowned Hong Kong breakdancer B Boy Think. After electrifying the audience with his gravity-defying moves, he opened up about the struggles and resilience on his path to the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifiers, “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.”
Aveline San of Citi noted that IdeaPOP! is a powerful learning journey that combines mentorship, self-directed learning, and hands-on practice.
Over the course of 2.5 months, the 80 qualified teams received guidance from a diverse pool of professionals across the business, technology, and social sectors. These volunteer mentors helped students sharpen their ideas, refine their business plans, and get prepared for their pitches. Contributors included employees from Citi, representatives from the four social partners, and many other passionate experts. In total, 70 mentors contributed more than 269 mentorship hours to the program.
A new element this year was the introduction of an in-person Semi-final Pitch, where nearly 160 students from the qualified teams presented on stage for 10 minutes each to the judging panel and a live audience. “This was a direct response to feedback from last year’s student focus groups,” says Danny Lee, Chairman of the SEED Foundation. “Students wanted more chances to present their ideas publicly, in an offline setting. It was logistically demanding, but our team was committed to giving students the learning experience they asked for.”
The IdeaPOP! 2025 journey concluded with students from the winning teams visiting Citi’s offices, where they met Aveline San and Jaideep Kumbhare, Head of Technology at Citi Hong Kong. The conversation spanned a wide range of topics, from Citi’s digital transformation, and tokenization in banking to the role of AI in enhancing productivity — and its implications for the future of work.
“As Hong Kong moves toward an economy driven by technology and innovation, it’s encouraging to see such promising talent in the pipeline. Citi is proud to play a role in supporting their growth and learning,” said Aveline San.
