Beyond the Pitch: How IdeaPOP! Is Teaching Students to Build Social Innovation That Works

When the SEED Foundation reviewed applications for IdeaPOP! 2026, they noticed a trend among the over a hundred proposals submitted by Hong Kong secondary school students – artificial intelligence was prominently featured in nearly every one. This raised an important question: were students learning to apply AI responsibly and develop ideas that could succeed beyond the competition stage?

IdeaPOP! is now in its fifth year, sponsored by Citi since 2024. Unlike a typical pitch competition, the program runs as a multi-month learning journey from January to July, focusing on pressing social issues in Hong Kong and teaching students to create sustainable, empathetic solutions.

The competition starts with over 300 students entering the program through applications, then narrowing down to 80 shortlisted teams. Over several months, teams undergo structured stages including 12 early-stage mentoring sessions to refine problem definitions, three pitching rounds in front of rotating panels from various sectors, and practical critiques on feasibility and long-term relevance.

Before the final pitch, students participated in a Kick-start Day with over 70 industry professionals and social partners to stress-test their problem statements and identify gaps in their thinking.

A new Deep-dive Day brought students closer to practitioners, helping them better understand the communities and challenges they aimed to address. This year, students addressed four social domains: education, elderly care, disability inclusion, and mental wellness and resilience. The goal remained consistent: understand a social need and develop a solution capable of creating lasting value beyond just a prototype or presentation.

One champion team from Kwun Tong Maryknoll College developed a solution to help students retain difficult content by turning study material into melodies using AI. Their project did not just focus on the novelty of using technology but on addressing a genuine learning need while being accessible and scalable. The judges valued the way the solution reflected the central idea of IdeaPOP!: technology can inspire ideas, but entrepreneurial thinking is what turns empathy into something usable.

After the final pitch, the IdeaPOP! journey continues. Citi hosted an AI Day for finalists and the winning team at its Hong Kong office, where students worked on concept testing, prototype development, and user experience design with Citi AI mentors and technology entrepreneurs. They learned where AI could enhance their solutions and where human judgment mattered more.

Citi mentors shared how AI is used in professional settings to boost productivity and tackle operational challenges, offering a real-world perspective on innovation.

Students also heard from founders who shared their entrepreneurial journeys, navigating the startup ecosystem, and dealing with setbacks. Aveline San, CEO and Banking Head for Citi Hong Kong, emphasized the program's focus on translating innovative ideas into real-world applications with a strong emphasis on human-centred design and responsible AI use.

Since its launch in 2022, IdeaPOP! has engaged over 3,000 students and generated more than 750 technology-based solution concepts, preparing future talent rather than just winning competition participants.