Why Walk When You Could Run
Pet calming, student employment, eczema relief and smart walking tech – just a few of the fantastic entrepreneurial business ventures pitched at the “Why Walk When You Could Run?” competition held at the Central Research Laboratory on September 18th.
The Santander funded prize gave Brunel Graduates a chance to win £5,000 for their new business venture. This was the second of two events designed to help entrepreneurial Brunel graduates with exciting and commercially viable businesses, to make their dreams a reality.
The judging panel consisting of Brunel University London alumni Stephanie Monty Ostique Ltd and Solveiga Pakštaitė Mimica gave insightful advice and guidance; accompanied by Simon Poulter Santander Universities, Fintan Clear Brunel Business School Lecturer, Inty Grønneberg Central Research Laboratory Accelerator Manager and spearheaded by Andy Cripps Brunel Co-Innovate Bridging the Gap Entrepreneur Director formed an experienced team.
The panel saw pitches from 9 entrants, whittled down to four finalists and two winners, Lauren Bell and Ibiere Banigo. Lauren’s business Cosi focusses on addressing skin conditions such as eczema in children; she will be joining the Central Research Laboratory Accelerator programme to develop her product further. Ibiere’s business Zoo Town provides online match making of undergraduate students with short-term job opportunities and will be receiving ongoing support from the Co-Innovate Bridging the Gap programme.
Close runners up include Anil Puri and Alecia Esson. Anil’s venture PetCalm is a product designed to detect and suppress the feelings of anxiety in animals; he was awarded desk space at the CRL to allow him to develop his product further. Alecia with her venture NXsteps looks to make walking smart, by developing a gait mapping and monitoring eco-system for health and wellbeing; she has joined both the CRL accelerator and BtG programme.
If you are an early stage entrepreneur looking for assistance in business and innovation support, apply for the Bridging the Gap programme via our
website and we will get in touch!
Reported by:
Ben Walter
ben.walter@brunel.ac.uk