WRITER: Shasta Younker, 575-646-7415, syounker@nmsu.edu
A team of New Mexico State University student entrepreneurs joined peers from universities across the U.S.-Mexico border to pitch cross-border business solutions at Negotium 2025, a binational business competition held Oct. 3 at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Hosted by UTEP’s Woody L. Hunt College of Business, in collaboration with the Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce, Negotium brought together more than 80 students from from NMSU, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Ciudad Juárez and UTEP. Teams worked collaboratively for a month to develop innovative products and services that strengthen regional trade and collaboration.
Representing NMSU were students Hamza Badrari, Carlos Velasco Aviles, Shashank Dharba, Alexa Naciff, Amber Diaz, Jonathan Bolson and Olabisi Adebisi.
Among the top performers was NMSU student Hamza Badrari, who helped his team, UpleX, earn third place for developing a cross-border trade and networking app. Jonathan Bolson also contributed to the second--place team, Tripoint Logistics, which proposed a new model for cross-border packaging and distribution solutions.
Studio G, NMSU’s student entrepreneurship hub, served as the bridge between the university and the competition, helping students access mentorship, resources and cross-border collaboration opportunities.
“Negotium gave our students a platform to apply their entrepreneurial training in a binational setting,” said Carlos Cuesta, director of Studio G at NMSU’s Arrowhead Center. “The mentorship, guidance, and access to resources from the Arrowhead Center and the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship helped students from across NMSU collaborate with peers from other universities, innovate across borders, and develop ideas with real-world impact.”
“Negotium 2025 was an incredible experience that showcased the power of collaboration across borders,” Badrari said, NMSU student and third-place team member. “Working alongside students from both countries pushed us to innovate, think bigger, and turn a cross-border idea into a real business model. The mentorship, teamwork and energy from students across the region made this experience truly impactful and highlighted the unique opportunities of the Borderplex region.”
The event also featured keynote remarks from Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de León, Consul General of Mexico in El Paso, who emphasized the importance of student-driven entrepreneurship for border development and innovation.
Negotium concluded with laptops awarded to finalist teams courtesy of Arca Coca-Cola and the announcement that next year’s edition will take place at Tec Campus Ciudad Juárez, continuing the tradition of binational collaboration and entrepreneurship across the border.
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PHOTO CAPTION: New Mexico State University student Hamza Badrari, center, helped his team UpleX earn third place for developing a cross-border trade and networking app during Negotium 2025, a binational business competition held Oct. 3 at the University of Texas at El Paso. (Courtesy photo)
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A man speaking to three people.