Stick 'Em: a chopstick robotics kit wins the Hult Prize

The Hult Prize is often called the “Nobel Prize for students”. In September 2025 it went to a Singapore team for the first time. The winner, Stick ‘Em, makes robotics kits from chopsticks.

What it makes

Stick ‘Em is an education technology start-up. According to the Straits Times, it sells an affordable robotics kit in which chopsticks form the structure, intended to teach children technology skills and to encourage problem-solving and creativity. The NUS School of Computing describes the wider business as low-cost hands-on STEAM learning kits, paired with a digital platform for educators in classrooms with limited resources. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

From 3D printers to a prize stage

The Straits Times traces the company to 2020, when Adam Huh Dam, then at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and Chong Ing Kai, then at Singapore Polytechnic, teamed up with Tew Jing An and Chong Kai Jie to develop the kit. The early prototypes were built with less than S$100 of 3D-printing filament and electronics, tested on friends’ children and packed by family members. Other coverage dates the start-up to 2021; the sources do not reconcile the two years.

The team won the 2021 River HongBao Hackathon, sponsored by Mapletree, which later provided funding support, according to the Straits Times.

The win

The 2025 Hult Prize Global Finals took place at London’s Tate Modern, with the result announced on 5 September. The Straits Times reports that Stick ‘Em beat more than 15,000 teams from 130 countries; the NUS account says the field was over 15,000 start-up ideas from universities worldwide. The prize is US$1 million in seed funding, which the Straits Times converts to S$1.28 million.

The founders come from three institutions. Adam has graduated from SUTD with honours. Chong Ing Kai graduated from Singapore Polytechnic in 2023 with a Diploma in Engineering with Business and is completing national service. Tew Jing An was a Year 1 computer science student at NUS at the time of the win, and Chong Kai Jie a Year 2 computer engineering student, according to NUS. Tew told the school: “Winning the Hult Prize shows that Stick ‘Em’s vision of making STEAM education accessible resonates far beyond our team.”

What happens next

The team now numbers 14 and works out of SUTD and NUS, according to the Straits Times, refining lesson plans, manufacturing the building parts and developing partnerships. The coverage we reviewed gives no revenue, customer or school figures, and does not say how the prize money will be staged or spent.

That absence matters. Hult Prize winners receive a large cheque and a global audience, but the test of an education business is whether schools keep paying for it. For a team still studying or in national service, the next two years will be spent finding out.