BruMaker a one-day workshop aimed at Brunel University graduating students and graduates with ambitions to commercialise their product, hardware and technology ideas took place on July 5
th 2017 at the Central Research Laboratory.
The workshop enabled those applying to CRL’s Accelerator programme to better understand the key success factors for securing a place in the popular co-working space full of hardware, digital, design and business talent. The participants were offered invaluable advice from the CRL team including tips for pitching, customer development and value proposition strategies.
As well as expert advice and peer to peer collaborative discussions the entrepreneurs had the opportunity to pitch for a Santander Innovation award of up to £1000.
The Santander Brunel campus branch manager Seema Sahota was proud to support Brunel University’s entrepreneurship initiative and had a fantastic day helping the budding entrepreneurs understand their business and pitch their ideas for the very first time. All of the pitches were impressive but in the end the judges selected the two ideas with the most commercial potential.
The first award was presented to Mohammed Shah, founder of IDK UNO which through a subscription model, offers a service where it converts regular bikes into e-bikes. “Winning the award was great as it allowed us to move forward with our start up and make great connections in Brunel and at Santander. Having Brunel and Santander backing us through this is a great way to attract great talent from within Uni.
Stephen Ao, founder of Travel Simply was also awarded £500.00 to kick his app Trippo which offer a luggage concierge service for frequent travellers who want a hassle free experience. Stephen said "winning the BruMaker Santander Innovation Award is a great achievement and gives me confidence that my idea has what it takes to evolve into a viable and profitable business. I think it’s fantastic that the university is supporting design innovation and small businesses like ourselves, and most importantly pushing us to overcome challenges and exceed expectations. "
Brunel University’s Co-Innovate programme which supports London SME’s and Start-ups is going to continue supporting the entrepreneurs who attended the BruMAKER workshop with a series of events, workshops, and mentoring to support them to grow and develop their businesses.
To find out more about Co-Innovate email Lydiah Igweh, Entrepreneur Director via Lydiah.igweh@brunel.ac.uk