Enterprising students win Design Your Future awards
Design Your Future is the flagship entrepreneurship programme from the Careers and Employability team at University of Liverpool.
Now in its third year, the ten-week programme aims to support enterprising students and graduates by offering one-to-one development coaching, business guidance, and the chance to win cash prizes to support their new innovative projects and business ideas.
In collaboration with Santander UK, the programme was delivered by local entrepreneurs and industry professionals during Semester 2. At the end of the programme students could choose whether they wanted to enter the competition and pitch for the chance to win a cash prize.
Nine incredible student and graduate entrepreneurs were shortlisted from a rigorous two-stage process to take part in the final pitching event at Scale Liverpool on 25 April.
Congratulations to BSc Computer Science student Marc Beepath won first prize for his business idea, Wild Routes: an app that allows you to discover unique, off-the-beaten-path adventures near you. Marc and his co-founder and coursemate, Ebin Pereppadan Sebu, hope to get more people to explore and support our local tourism industry through their app.
MSc Business Analytics & Big Data student Jerin Abraham won the second prize of £2,000 with his business idea, Amber “Uber for Ambulance”: an E-health start-up that enables fast emergency requests and real-time transmission of medical data using AI and IOT devices.
In third place, PhD student Thomas Barton receives £1,000 for his business idea, Placementt: a tech start-up that provides students, businesses, and educational institutions with a platform to find, organise and seamlessly manage high-quality work experiences.
The 6 runners-up also received £500 in seed funding from Santander UK to continue developing their business ideas. Congratulations to everyone who pitched their idea:
- Sharon Grothe – Frenchie Cup of Tea
- George Jones – Emerging Data Technologies
- Glen Cordha – True Global Connect
- Mohamad Elhalwagy – Marakia
- Omar Hussain – Baby Box Liverpool
- Saswat Tiwari – The Churro Kingdom
Judges included Damien Mullany and Lynne Robertson from competition sponsors, Santander UK. The judging panel also included Jonny Clarke, an Angel Investor and Community Builder, and Director of Start-up Grind Liverpool. Richard Leighton, Entrepreneur in Residence at the Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship within the University of Liverpool Management School.
Alison Pountney, Enterprise Lead in Careers & Employability said: “Design Your Future has helped to create a thriving community of student and graduate start-ups, and participants of the programme have gone on to win major national and global competitions, grant funding, and multiple awards.”
“We offer one-to-one tailored coaching, enterprise funding, and support for entrepreneurs throughout their journey. Their successes, continuous growth and progression is evidence of the impact that our Design Your Future Programme has for University of Liverpool students and graduates who take part.”
Join our enterprise community
The Careers & Employability team have set up a vibrant online community of student entrepreneurs called The Green Room.
Be the first to find out about enterprise programmes such as Design Your Future, new competitions, funding opportunities, and support, while also connecting with like-minded students in this Microsoft Team forum.
For more information on the enterprise support available for students and graduates click here.
If you are interested in finding out more, or have any questions please email Alison Pountney or message via Microsoft Teams.