Bhutanese students win Global Innovation Award for school supply venture

Neten Dorji

A student team from Druk School and Pelkhil School has won international recognition for their business idea, BackPack Basics, taking home the Golden Award in the Innovation Challenge category at the International Creativity and Innovation Awards (ICIA) 2025.

The team also earned the Rising Star Potential title for their creativity and future promise. The team take part in ICIA 2025 hosted from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on April 19.

Their project, called “Pack Smart, Start Strong”, was first selected as the best business idea during Bhutan’s first Kids MBA Programme, held from January 15 to 25.

The programme, organised by Innovate Bhutan and the Bhutan Youth Development Fund (YDF) in collaboration with ABE Ltd, UK, helps students develop entrepreneurial skills and business experience under the theme ‘Educate Kids to Innovate Bhutan.’

After winning the national competition, Team BackPack Basics went through a structured mentorship programme led by Innovate Bhutan and YDF.The training included developing their business model, improving their pitch, and learning an entrepreneurial mindset from experienced professionals.

The mentorship prepared the team for ICIA 2025, a global competition held as part of the United Nations World Creativity and Innovation Day.

The event attracted over 395 finalists from 26 countries, with more than 180 innovative entries across three categories: Inventor Wannabe, Innovation Challenge, and Awards.

Their project supports three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Quality Education, Reduced Inequalities, and Responsible Consumption and Production.

Team member Kyle Yangsel Lotey, a student from Pelkhil School, said the idea came from their personal experiences. “The idea for BackPack Basics came from our own experience after struggling to find all the stationery we needed in one place,” she said. “We want to solve this problem by making school materials affordable, reliable, and easy to access.”

Kyle Yangsel Lotey said she hopes to continue working on the idea and become an entrepreneur even though she is not eligible for higher studies.

“We want to thank Innovate Bhutan and YDF for making this opportunity possible and giving us our first entrepreneurial experience,” she said. “It has helped young people like us learn to solve problems, take risks, and make a difference.”

Another team member, Yigha Kinley Wangzin, a student at Druk School, said the programme encouraged creative thinking.

“Everyone worked very hard, showed creativity, and never gave up. It also helped improve our critical and analytical thinking,” she said. “We have learned so much from each other. Now we hope to test our solution in two schools first and then expand.”

She added that the core idea of the business is to help reduce inequality by making school supplies affordable and accessible for students in low-income and rural areas.

According to YDF officials, the next step for BackPack Basics is to develop their product and start business incubation. The team will create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a simple version of their product, to test it in real-world conditions. With final approval, the MVP will be piloted at Druk School and Pelkhil High School.

Pema Gyeltshen, Social Enterprises Officer at Innovate Bhutan at YDF, said that after winning the Kids MBA Bhutan programme, the team received focused mentoring.

“Over nine Saturdays, from February to April, the team attended sessions with experienced local mentors and webinars led by Krya Global, organisers of ICIA 2025,” he said. “These sessions helped them strengthen their business model, sharpen their pitch, and build a strong entrepreneurial mindset.”

Innovate Bhutan and YDF now plan to hold the second edition of the Kids MBA Bhutan programme from July 2 to 11 this year. The programme will again follow the theme ‘Educate Kids to Innovate Bhutan’ and is open to students from Classes VI to VIII, aged 11 to 16.

“The success of BackPack Basics shows how youth-led innovation, with proper mentorship and creativity, can turn ideas into real solutions that make an impact,” said Pema Gyeltshen.