Venture Competition 2019
The Venture Competition is an opportunity for ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ students and alumni to develop their entrepreneurial skills and ideas with a chance to win up to £10,000 of start-up funding generously supported by Santander Universities and the Brunel Development Fund.
This year the Innovation Hub selected 9 finalists out of over 50 applicants to pitch their business idea in the Venture Competition Pitching Finals. On Wednesday 6th March 2019, 9 budding entrepreneurs pitched their innovative idea to a panel of experts competing to win a share of £10,000! After a 10 minute pitch and a 15 minute question and answer session with the panel, 3 finalists where chosen as the 2019 Venture Competition Winners.
Applications for Venture Competition 2021 are currently open, download an information pack here. Keep an eye on our website for more updates! If you have any enquires you can email us at hub@brunel.ac.uk.
Meet our 2019 winners ...
Lauren Bell, Founder of Cosi Care
Winning £5,000 in the Commercial category was Lauren Bell, a Product Design graduate and founder of Cosi Care, a hand-held tool specifically designed to offer instant relief to children suffering with Eczema. Lauren has been developing her business at the Central Research Laboratory and with the money she has received from the Venture Competition, she will be able to secure additional funding and begin prototype refinement.
Clara Hardy, Albert Marifa i Martinez and the Oimo team
Secondly, receiving £3,000 in the Social Impact category was Clara Hardy, Business Management and Marketing final year and Albert Martinez, Industrial Design and Technology graduate plus their team for their business idea Oimo. The team began working on their business idea during their degree developing the Oimo Can Holder, a biodegradable, edible and adaptable alternative to plastic packaging helping to reduce plastic waste and environmental damage.
Product Design student, Ben Harvey
The final winner was Ben Harvey, a Product Design student, receiving £2,000 to develop his Drinkware Detection business further. Ben has been working on developing paper drinking straws and glassware that can indicate any date rape drug currently on the market. He said that the “Venture Competition is a fantastic opportunity” and encourages all entrepreneur enthusiasts to apply!
“Congratulations to all 9 finalists for their fantastic pitches and hard work throughout the competition. The quality and standard of entrepreneurial talent at Brunel is excellent which made the decision to pick the winners very challenging. Also a big thank you to the judges, Santander Universities, Brunel Alumni fund and everyone involved from the Professional Development Centre!”
Emmy Botterman, Innovation Hub