Emerge 2020- Winners announced!

Posted on: 11 June 2020 in Events & News

A group of student entrepreneurs from the University have just completed the Emerge Programme being run by the Careers and Employability Service in partnership with LAB by Capacity.

Thanks to the success of Emerge 2019, students were able to take part in the entrepreneurship programme for the second year in a row. 

The second group of students were chosen for the programme following a call-out for innovative business ideas. They have completed a three-month business development programme with the chance to win a £1,000 prize and potential investment from local businesses.

LAB by Capacity, which has partnered with the University’s Careers and Employability Service to offer the opportunity, is a unique co-working space and business incubator in Liverpool’s commercial district. It is aimed at supporting early stage social ventures and commercial start-ups.

Over the duration of the programme, competitors will attend a combination of workshops and masterclasses taught by regional, national and international business professionals to find out what it takes to build and maintain a successful enterprise. An impressive roster of CEOs, directors, and business founders have been lined up to share their own experiences of overcoming challenges as a start-up, in addition to providing guidance on essential business skills including marketing, financial planning and networking.

The winners for this year's Emerge programme, who will be sharing their £1,000 prize are University of Liverpool students:

  • Wayne Massam (BA International Business) with his business Styliify Ltd
  • Nachi Kaluba (BSc Computer Science) with her business Culture and Me

We caught up with them to hear about their experience:

Wayne "The Emerge programme has been a significant boost to my newly launched business venture, Styliify. Not only has the programme helped me grow as a business, the weekly sessions hosted by very knowledgeable professionals has enhanced my professional network. A massive thank you to Chris and the team at LAB by Capacity for always going the extra mile, to ensure we got the most out of each session. I’d highly recommend any individual who’s looking to pursue their idea, the emerge programme is a great opportunity to build the core foundations of a successful business."

Nachi "I feel a lot more equipped on a broad spectrum of business issues, from marketing to business expansion financing. Winning best pitch/business confirms I have what it takes to build and maintain a successful enterprise and learn how to compete successfully with established industry players."

Chris Witterick, Head of Operations at LAB by Capacity, also commented "I am delighted that in spite of a global pandemic and government enforced lockdown, we have successfully concluded the 2020 Emerge Enterprise Support Programme. Our investors were unable to pick one winner this year, so we have split the cash prize between the two stand out candidates; Wayne Massam and Nachi Kaluba. Bothe Wayne and Nachi have grown their networks in the city and pitched their excellent business ideas with confidence. The quality of ideas on this year's programme were all incredible, which made the judging process even more difficult. The future of entrepreneurship at the University of Liverpool is very exciting and the Careers & Employability team there should be very proud of themselves."

Keywords: Case studies.