Latest #EntEd news from our EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

UAL Creative Hack: cross-college collaboration tackles social and environmental challenges

Led by University of the Arts London’s Careers and Employability, in collaboration with teams from their six colleges and institutions, this dynamic creative hackathon with social innovation at its core, took place over 3 days in February. 80 participants came together to learn from expert speakers and mentors, ideate, innovate, create, and then present their ideas to a panel of industry and entrepreneur judges. Three teams shared the £3000 prize fund, along with further mentoring, so that they can develop their initiatives and hopefully go on to change the world!

Click here for the full story.


Strathclyde: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report: worldwide impact of the pandemic is mixed

The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report shows that countries have experienced variable impacts from the pandemic – out of 38 economies that took part, 16 saw their total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity dramatically fall. The ‘GEM 2022/2023 Global Report – Adapting to a New Normal’ observes that the quality of entrepreneurship ecosystems is now better in the East, with UAE, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and India taking the top four spots.


Middlesex: Special session on Growth and Sustainability

Dr Chris Moon delivered a special session on Growth and Sustainability for 30 local SME businesses in Barnet. This followed the successful workshops on Micro Business and is part of the Barnet LB and Middlesex University partnership in which the programme was co-created with Barnet council and MDX colleagues. The next step is to work on a joint Net Zero initiative. Further information: c.moon@mdx.ac.uk. Chris is a fellow of EEUK.

 


Manchester: PGCert Entrepreneurship – learn to think entrepreneurially
With a proud history of innovation and partnership with industry, The University of Manchester and Masood Entrepreneurship Centre (MEC), are here to support and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs every step of the way. Our new PG Cert in Entrepreneurship is a part-time online programme and can be completed flexibly in twelve months. This is designed for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who want to learn fast and develop business ideas quickly. Explore new opportunities, develop innovative business ideas with commercial potential and create your own future with the PGCert in Entrepreneurship. Read more here.


Strathclyde: UK sliding in quality of entrepreneurship ecosystem, ranked 25th globally

The UK is ranked at number 25 of 51 countries on the quality of entrepreneurship ecosystem economies according to the new Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI). The ranking, reported in the ‘GEM 2022/2023 Global Report – Adapting to a New Normal’, is a slide down from rank 18 last year, with the index score decreasing from 4.9 (in 2021) to 4.7. UK’s NECI score is below that of other comparable economies such as the USA (5.2), France (5.1), and Germany (5.1).


Brunel: Kicking Off the Ford Design Challenge: The Future of Mobility

100 students from Brunel University London started their journey on the D-Ford Design Factory London Challenge: The Future of Mobility. This 6-week challenge creates a culture of collaborative innovation for enterprise through students exploring new ways to design, develop, and shape the future of transportation. This challenge provides students with the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the transportation industry. Students dive into the current trends and challenges in the transportation sector, learn from Ford’s experienced professionals, and gain new perspectives through mentorship and support from the wider Brunel team.


UCL: MSc Entrepreneurship Pitch Day

The UCL School of Management hosted the MSc Entrepreneurship Pitch Day, where students presented innovative business ideas to investors and venture capitalists. The event drew a record-breaking attendance of 178 people, including mentors, alumni, and UCL students. Our guest-speaker, Noa Havazelet, Head of Google for Startups Accelerator, shared invaluable tips for first-time entrepreneurs. Cash prizes, sponsored by the Engineers in Business Fellowship, were given to accelerate business growth. Nikhil Aggawal (Swyftin) and Lola Fitoussi (Genz’) won £1,000 each for Best Ideas, while Ina Jovicic (eNOugh) delivered the Best Pitch, and Niyati Takiar (Sport for all) won the Best Showcase award, with each winning £1,000.

Latest #EntEd news from our EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

Baishev: “Generations of Independence-2022”

In December 2022, “Generations of Independence-2022” competition of innovative ideas   was held to support young entrepreneurs in the Aktobe region. There are representatives from Baishev University in the following categories: 1. Education and Science – Rysgul Dauletova. 2. Arts and Culture – Kenzhegul Serebayeva. 3. Information Technology – Adilkazy Yessengaliyev. The winners were awarded 300,000 tenge grants to develop their startups. Congratulations!


Lancaster Good Place Lab on the ETC Toolkit

Can creativity be encouraged in an online environment? Lancaster University digital self-guided course Good Place Lab provides an example of critical thinking and problem-solving practice transferred to online environment co-created with students. The course is structured as a sequence of steps based on an innovation challenge related to improving a campus university environment. Learners will be able to explore concepts of innovation and gain insights into how design thinking methods can be applied to innovation. The course can be accessed on the ETC toolkit HERE.


Baishev: Low-code and No-code capabilities

On December 22, 2022, a meeting was held at the creative hub of Baishev University with Zhaksybek Nurtles, the founder of  the www.zumcare.kz/  service and the mentor of the Techpreneurs program. At the event, Zhaksybek Nurtles shared his insights and told how students, young professionals and entrepreneurs can use no-code tools in their work and projects without spending a lot on development.


Newcastle/Bristol: Evidence of Engagement with the Threshold Concepts in Entrepreneurial Thinking tool (part of the ETC Toolkit)

Have you used this tool?  We’d love to know! Dave Jarman (University of Bristol, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, CfIE) and Dr Lucy Hatt (Newcastle University Business School) created a tool (2021) which includes:

–  Explanations of what threshold concepts are
–  A walk through the process used with CfIE to develop a set of threshold concepts entrepreneurial thinking
–  Three ways of doing this in your own context

Please follow this link or contact lucy.hatt@newcastle.ac.uk directly.


Lancaster: NSS Entrepreneurial Opportunities 

Last year, Lancaster University adopted optional question set B14 Entrepreneurial Opportunities in its National Student Survey.  When the results came in, the most surprising finding was that only a very small proportion of students seemed to have been asked these questions nationally.  We are keen to get a better understanding of which organisations have or haven’t adopted these questions, the reasons for this, and whether those who have are benefiting from this data in some way. LU’s Enterprise Programme Manager, Simon Harrison, would be very grateful for any EEUK members willing to share their own perspectives.  Please drop him an email via s.harrison4@lancaster.ac.uk.

Latest #EntEd news from our EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

UCL:Presents you won’t find anywhere else from UCL’s entrepreneurs

If you’re looking for truly unique gifts this season, UCL’s startups have something for almost everyone on your list. From virtual reality games that make history fun for children, to a bracelet that results in 10 trees being planted in Kenya, discover presents you won’t see anywhere else to suit all tastes and interests.  All the businesses featured have been supported in their journey by UCL Innovation & Enterprise.

https://bit.ly/3F85h3r


RNCM: 50th Birthday Gala


Exclusive Gala evening marking the pinnacle of the Royal Northern College of Music’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Friday 23rd June 2023, 6pm. This exclusive Gala evening marks the pinnacle of the RNCM’s 50th anniversary celebrations, taking over the whole building with hundreds of musicians, spectacular performances in our Concert Hall and Theatre, 3 course dinner, drinks, and dancing. A fitting celebration in aid of the RNCM’s Music for Health project, part of the RNCM50 Fund! Join us for a truly memorable and joyous evening. £5,000 for a table of 10. This includes a £4,000 donation towards the RNCM.  Email: rhiannon.mckay-smith@rncm.ac.uk


Derby: Derbyshire Festival of Business

The Derbyshire Festival of Business has returned for another year of connecting and supporting local organisations whilst showcasing Derbyshire’s extensive business capability to future clients, customers, and investors! The Festival offers a wide range of events that takes place online and at venues across Derbyshire. There is an extensive selection of free workshops, masterclasses and networking activities offered throughout the festival, helping to support businesses within the region. The aim is to offer help and support, educate, share information and knowledge, whilst creating forums for networking, engagement and business growth. Find out more about hosting or attending an event www.derby.ac.uk/fob

Latest #EntEd news from our EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

Middlesex: Barnet Micro-Business Growth Programme
Middlesex University partnered with Barnet Council to provide a unique programme of short training courses, specifically designed to support the growth and development of local micro-businesses. Ten short courses were designed and delivered to provide businesses with the tools, knowledge and confidence to grow, and over 50 unique businesses benefited from the co-designed programme convened at Middlesex University. Following their attendance, 20 businesses are being allocated an MDX student/graduate intern, who will shortly start working on helping them implement growth strategies. Dr Chris Moon, fellow of Enterprise Educators UK, delivered workshops on Entrepreneurship and Sustainability as part of the programme.


Napier:Innovative online learning in entrepreneurship Education,
This publication explores how educational scaffolding can facilitate the delivery of online experiential activities to improve the entrepreneurial learning experience and the performance of music management students by using information and communications technology tools within the virtual learning environment. A case study methodology was adopted to present two scenarios of innovative online learning delivered in a postgraduate programme in music management. The findings show that, by strengthening industry links, tutors can build a portfolio of online practical activities that represent the ‘real-life’ industry, helping to forge long-term, collaborative partnerships to facilitate learners’ acquisition of more meaningful knowledge and opportunities. Read more.


Robert Gordon University: Innovation Award gives student the edge
Imagination is key to using innovation to help solve problems. Using imagination and the innovative meta skills acquired through the RGU Innovation award, Azibaolanari Okungbowa a RGU postgraduate Procurement and Supply Chain Management student, determined how Big Data Analytics can be deployed to help solve the problems of climate change, especially within supply chain. Big Data Analytics is vital to reducing scope 3 emissions, thus the topic “The Contribution Of Big Data Analytics In Reducing Scope 3 Emissions” emerged. This research was used in a CIPS global symposium competition in the UK, with Azibaolanari emerging top 6 amongst other finalists.


BCU: The STEAMhouse Pre-Incubator
Within the Pre-Incubator is a suite of a programmes designed to build knowledge, confidence, and networks, and equip participants with the attributes every entrepreneur needs with one programme. This is referring to our STEAMhouse Hatchery Programme, which is a ten-week boot camp where eligible participants create and cultivate a business plan with the help of expert mentors from all aspects of business, workshops, access to great facilities and taught sessions. The finalists receive a cash prize, a space in our Pre-Incubator and a furnished business plan that they can use to launch their venture.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWHNHOmdw2


Glasgow: Adam Smith Business School leads on £1.2m project to develop data-driven entrepreneurship
The Business School is leading a new €1.2m project to develop data-driven entrepreneurship across a consortium of EU universities.The work aims to develop partner Universities entrepreneurship capacity, increase the volume of student and staff start-ups, and upskill roles that support innovation and commercialisation. The work will cover everything from agri-tech and the space sector, through to precision medicine and fintech. Partners include Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Corvinus University in Budapest and industry partners such as Stac.ac, Fintech Scotland, ARM Advanced RISC Machines, Barclays Eagle Labs and Censis


Bristol: SETsquared Bristol’s Enterprising Women 3.0
Applications are now open for SETsquared Bristol’s Enterprising Women 3.0 – a supportive and inclusive business support programme, fully funded by NatWest, to help women take their business or idea to the next stage. You’ll benefit from SETsquared Bristol’s world-class business support and a valuable network to connect with. All costs for the programme are covered, apart from your own expenses. The opportunity is open to tech and non-tech businesses/ideas. Apply by 8 December


UCL entrepreneurs win global Techstars investment

Two UCL startups have been selected for prestigious Techstars Accelerator programmes, which provide investment opportunities for early-stage entrepreneurs.Startups BoxxDocks and Charter have secured coveted spots on the London and Space programmes respectively. Read more here.

Latest #EntEd news from our EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

Sussex: Startup Cycle’ 

Students at the University of Sussex took part in a sustainability-themed ‘Startup Cycle’ tour of Brighton’s business community.  The group, including participants from the university’s accelerator programme, travelled the city by bike and foot to hear from startup founders and see inside work spaces. Their stops included a guided tour of co-working space PLATF9RM with founder talks, and a trip to ethical supermarket HISBE Food. This year Sussex extends its provision for social entrepreneurs, partnering with University of California Berkeley to offer social impact contest Big Ideas, supported by a new early stage programme, Ideas Lab.


Keele: EEUK Associate Awarded Honorary Doctorate

Georgian Technical University are celebrating their 100th birthday and the academic council have awarded Dr Colin Rigby an honorary doctorate for the introduction of enterprise to their education and also a visiting Professor role.  Colin commented in his acceptance speech “This is one of the greatest honours of my professional career so far, I am very much looking forward to taking up my role as a visiting professor. This is the beginning of our journey and I look forward to the continuation of our amazing team here at GTU particularly after successfully gaining EEUK membership through Creative Flame”.  

 

 

 

 


Manchester: Development of a Data Warehouse for the Assessment of Entrepreneurship Education and Venture Creation
Colleagues from The University of Manchester presented their work at the British Academy of Management Conference on “Development of a Data Warehouse for the Assessment of Entrepreneurship Education and Venture Creation” Papadopoulou, K.A., Phillips, R.A., Salder, J., Salehi, F. Measuring the success of entrepreneurship education (EE) is complex. Metrics used are varied, students may be from any school and had varying interaction with EE making any meaningful tracking difficult. A data warehouse is proposed to collate information from a variety of sources in an organised manner to allow educators to identify effectiveness and how EE may be measured. Read the full article here.


Bristol: Breakthrough Bursary

Calling all UK tech entrepreneurs from a minority ethnic background – take your business to the next level! Apply for SETsquared Bristol’s Breakthrough Bursary to access heavily discounted business support. SETsquared’s incubation programme can help early-stage startups with market readiness or help existing businesses to scale and raise investmentIf you want help to grow your business and make an impact in the world, apply by 7 November.


KCL: New Ventures and Innovators join King’s Accelerators

The Entrepreneurship Institute has welcomed 20 of the brightest and highest potential ventures from across King’s College London onto its King’s20 Accelerator. Cohort VII will participate in an intensive programme to accelerate their first stage of growth, with access to leading expert mentorship, investment opportunities, coaching and the chance to develop the 7 skills of an Entrepreneurial Mindset to aid their success. Eight innovators will also start their 12-month journey on the Innovator at King’s Accelerator. The second cohort of eight innovators are companies that have been developed from King’s research, founded by researchers and PhD students.

King’s20: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/meet-the-ventures-kings20-2022-23

Innovators: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/meet-the-innovators-at-kings-cohort-2


The Weave Brings Social Innovation to its Region.
Most businesses are stuck solving today’s problems and addressing the current needs of society. Rarely do they have the energy or time to engage with a future yet to be imagined and wholly unknown. That is why we designed and delivering the North Essex Social Impact Hackathon from the 18th to the 20th of November. The event brings the region’s universities and small businesses together to collaborate and develop social innovation. The best ideas have the opportunity to access a £20k fund where dreams can become a reality. More details herehttps://wearetheweave.co.uk/socialimpacthackathon

 

Latest #EntEd news from our EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

Bristol: Enterprise Sessions

A series of films by the University of Bristol in which company founders, researchers and academics talk candidly about their personal experiences working in the enterprise space has attracted widespread praise for its diverse subject matter and honest approach.

The Enterprise Sessions see Professor Michele Barbour, the University’s Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor: Enterprise & Innovation interview guests about the challenges and opportunities of forming spin-out and start-up companies, on raising funding, collaborating on industry partnerships, and the joys of seeing the impact of their research realized.

Michele’s guests include company founders Tom Carter (Ultraleap), Neciah Dorh (FluoretiQ) and Konstantina Psoma(Kaedim), alongside academics working in industry partnerships or as consultants.


Manchester: Winners announced for the 2022 Harari Graphene Enterprise Award

Physics alumnus and founder of global flash-memory giant, SanDisk, Dr. Eli Harari has generously supported the annual competition.

This year’s first prize winning venture is developing a green, bioinspired alternative to ceramic tiles. Second prize was awarded to a company using graphene as the strain sensing element in wide-area strain sensing applications from aerospace to fitness tracking.

The winners of the new sustainability award were a team aiming to develop a neuroprosthetic device that allows amputees to feel the ground as they walk with their prosthetic leg.

Find out more about the winners


Nottingham: YES22

YES is an innovative global competition developed to raise awareness among Master and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, research fellows and technicians how ideas can be commercialised.For the past 27 years, teams, united by a dedication to their subject, curiosity, enthusiasm and a desire to learn, attempt to deploy novel science and engineering to address societal challenges such as the ageing population, sustainable food production and global warming. In this way, they develop a business plan for a start-up company based on a hypothetical but plausible idea. Our deadline for applications for #YES22 is fast approaching – Sunday 25 September.Click here for more information.

Latest #EntEd news from six EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

York: New hub to empower Yorkshire’s entrepreneurs and improve communities

The University of York believes in the power of enterprise and entrepreneurship as a driver for social change. To support this mission, we have launched Enterprise Works – an innovative hub bringing together regional business support, local communities and entrepreneurs to support start-ups and businesses to grow, and enterprising talent to become entrepreneurs.“We are laying the foundations for new entrepreneurial futures – futures which are open to anyone, from any community, with access to the right advice, services and support”

Professor Kiran Trehan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor – Partnerships and Engagement www.york.ac.uk/enterprise-works

Arts: DBACE 2022

LCF BA(Hons) Fashion Design and Development graduate Chamiah Dewey has won £15,000 funding from the Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs. Chamiah Dewey Fashion is the UK’s first clothing brand for people with dwarfism, offering stylish, timeless pieces, made in eco-conscious fabrics, produced in the UK. Starting with a measurement audit sent out to women with Dwarfism, Chamiah also developed the World’s first tailor’s dummy in the form of a woman with Achondroplasia. Chamiah will use the funding to develop two collections for people with Dwarfism allowing them to take their brand to show at London Fashion Week.


Solent: Innovation Hub

Solent Business School, Solent University Southampton, is pleased to announce that it has gained funding to open an Innovation Hub to support the Enterprise eco-system within the School and University.    We are reaching out to our fellow HEIs for advice and guidance around developing this type of space and even potentially being able to visit your already developed spaces?   Please contact with claire.hughes@solent.ac.uk if you might be able to support this, we will be very happy to host you in return at the opening of our Innovation Hub centre.

Lancaster: Regenerative curriculum co-created with students and local community

Good Place Innovators from Lancaster University Management School, an EEUK funded project, presented their model of regenerative curriculum at the Lancaster University Education Conference attended by over 100 staff and students from Lancaster global family. The focus of the project has been on encouraging educators to incorporate place into their curriculum and the conference paper confirmed the positive impact on students learning as well as regenerative approach to curriculum development enhancing the academic engagement. The conference page provides more details about the project approach: Conference | Good Place Innovators (lancs.ac.uk)

Durham Venture School. US Trip

DVS is a six-month accelerator programme open to any Durham graduate. The first cohort concluded in May culminating in a trip to Silicon Valley to connect with Durham alumni, both entrepreneurs and investors. Highlights included meeting Silicon Valley’s latest tech unicorn, a visit to Start X at Stanford University and a masterclass on fundraising at the HQ of Andreesen Horowitz.  This amazing experience was both aspirational and inspirational; and expanded the groups horizons as to their potential and what they think is possible. You can find out more DVS. chris.gilman@durham.ac.uk.

 

Bristol: Start-up wins University funding

A student start-up developing an on-the-go cleaning case for reusable menstrual cups has won a slice of £75,000 in funding from the University of Bristol after following an Innovation degree.   With a growing acceptance of enterprise and entrepreneurship at the University of Bristol, teams from across the University now deliver education and support in joined up way that has led to increased funding and improved delivery. Beyond the headlines there have been many financial and support packages delivered through RunwayBasecamp and SetSquared this last academic year and the teams are coming together to deliver bigger and better by 2023!

Latest #EntEd news from our EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

Cardiff Met: Annual CF5 Business Bootcamp marks Cardiff Met’s latest achievements in graduate outcomes and start up success’

From 20th – 24th June, Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Centre for Entrepreneurship ran its annual CF5 Business Bootcamp empowering students and graduates by equipping them with the tools and confidence to begin their start up journey. The flagship event supports entrepreneurially minded students and graduates to explore self-employment via a weeklong intensive programme of interactive workshops, activities, networking, and pitching. The invaluable support and development provided during the week culminated in a demo day, allowing participants to practice their pitch decks and exhibit their products to receive feedback before applying for up to £3000 provided by Santander Universities – https://bit.ly/3bQ6hNl

 

NTU: Phil Clarke FEEUK, to leave Nottingham Trent University at the end of July, 17 Years after jumping for joy at getting a job in enterprise education. 

The seed was planted during a casual conversation over dinner, a friend suggesting that Phil’s knowledge and experience of running businesses for 17 years could be well used in education. Two weeks later Phil spotted an ad for a role at NTU (at The Hive). He “jumped for joy” when he got the job, his enthusiasm for enterprise education has never diminished and the rest, as they say, is history!

If you’d like to leave Phil a message and/or contribute to the online collection https://www.thankbox.com/app/thankbox/1mIshtkb

 

Derby: Top 100 Businesses in Derbyshire

Researchers from Derby Business School have compiled the annual list of Top 200 businesses in Derbyshire. The list is based on turnover — a simple but powerful indicator of business growth and relative positioning. This Top 200 will feed into the East Midlands Top 500 Companies league table, due to be published in July. Some clear trends and growth sectors have emerged in the 2022 listing for Derbyshire, including decarbonisation and clean growth tech, digital, and services more broadly.

Find out more about the Top 200 listing >

Arts: Enterprise Challenge 2022

LCF are pleased to announce this year’s winners of its annual Enterprise Challenge. The first-place winners of the 2022 Enterprise Challenge Award are duo Alice Simpson, MA Fashion Design Technology (Menswear), and Emily Taylor, MA Fashion Futures, for their pitch on SAGES, a company creating natural dyes derived from food waste products. They will receive funding from the Challenge sponsors Shaftesbury PLC, PR and digital coaching support from Sister London, marketing promotion from Eyes on Talents, mentoring from The Wall Group and one year of membership from Soho Works including two interviews and a dedicated launch event.

Solent: The Business Pitch

The Business Pitch, a competition for entrepreneurial students and alumni from Solent University, Southampton, reached its climax crowning Mitch Wisniewski the winner, who received a £10,000 investment to accelerate his company Other Skies.    There was also a Golden Ticket presented by Carey Moore, NatWest’s Regional Director, Corporate & Commercial Banking, Solent, to Benjamin Warrington, WellBeing First.  On announcing the winner lead judge, Theo Paphitis, said, “This is a fantastic prize. Projects like this provide start-up businesses with an incredible step up, giving them access to mentors and support during a crucial stage of their business, which I’m sure will be of great benefit.”

Kingston: Enterprise informed by the lived experiences of Black students and employers 

A year-long enterprise catalyst was delivered by Nigel Page, Amanda Baker, Martha Mador and Zion Sengulay-Thomas with Jacqui Piner (GSK) and EMBRACE to support and encourage Black diversity in the pharmaceutical industry. Conscious of disadvantages facing Black students in HE and beyond, the programme provided an immersive experience empowering Black students with creativity skills and confidence. The programme included networking opportunities with a variety of industrial professionals benefitting students by engaging with role models that looked like them, hearing about their career journeys and identifying key future skills.

Gloucestershire: The Ingenuity Programme

The Ingenuity Programme exists to tackle the UK’s major social and environmental challenges through the creation of impactful new start-ups. Start and Grow Enterprise played an important part in coordinating activity for the West of England. On 17th June 2022, Ingenuity announced its four 2022 finalists, two of which are Start and Grow Enterprise business clients! One of these finalists is Kesha Kellam, founder of Gloucestershire domestic abuse peer support group, Honour Thy Woman. The second finalist is Dave Pearson, founder of Mindminder. The finalists were given nearly £90,000 of funding to help them in the early stages of their entrepreneurial journeys.

NTU: Enactus innovative Knife Crime Project

Enactus NTU has developed an innovative Knife Crime project using VR and real stories of people affected by knife-crime, to provide a powerful learning experience in understanding the effects of knife crime. The project connected with many internal and external community organisations with  more engagements planned with  the NHS and other anti-knife crime agencies.  The  project was sole winner of the SAP Partner Competition £1000 to invest in the project and accelerate its impact . The video can be seen here https://vimeo.com/685295566/1d7f7f51e4

Exposure through EEUK will increase project credibility and prove beneficial as we raise future funding.

Latest #EntEd news from five EEUK members

Written by Lynn O'Byrne

St Andrews: The Entrepreneurship Centre

The Entrepreneurship Centre at the University of St Andrews opened its doors for the first time in September 2021. In the space of just a few months, the centre has had fantastic success by integrating itself into the university eco-system by providing practical entrepreneurship training to help turn ideas and research into a commercial reality. Across 4 structured programmes covering for-profit enterprise, social entrepreneurship, web development and cloud computing, the training allows participants to develop their ideas further. Alongside the programmes, the centre hosts a busy events calendar including Lunch & Learn workshops, regular pitching sessions and a fantastic Speaker Series. The centre also provides support to university spinouts who have collectively raised £1.2m in non-dilutive funding. Lastly, the centre plays a key role in supporting consultancy projects for the university.

Durham University’s “Game Changer” Included in United Nations SDG Publication

Durham University’s Game Changer programme has been chosen by the United Nations to feature in their “SDG Good Practices: A compilation of success stories and lessons learned in SDG Implementation” publication. Chosen from over 700 submissions down to 21, the case study tells how over 500 students have participated in the programme since 2019. Game Changer uses design thinking tools to enable students to generate solutions to problems highlighted by the SDGs. Click here to read the publication. If you would like a copy of Durham University’s Game Changer toolkit to run the programme with your own students, email rachel.bickerdike@durham.ac.uk.

RGU: engages Regional Startup Accelerator finalists to compete for £80,000 in prize funding

Robert Gordon University successfully hosted their fourth annual Regional Startup Accelerator Programme showcase event, where £80,000 in prize funding were given out to the entrepreneurial teams. At the event, nine finalists got to pitch their business ideas in front of a live audience and a panel of judges. This year 36 teams have taken part in the program and have come up with a broad variety of ideas, ranging from clean energy to safety technology and more. Find out which teams won, by watching the event online and learn who got awarded cash prizes in categories such as ‘Climate Impact Award’ or ‘Regional Impact Award’.

Imperial College: Launch of new podcast

The Imperial Enterprise Lab has recently launched a brand new podcast Black & Found, focusing on amplifying the entrepreneurial journeys of Black/Black mixed heritage founders. The concept of the podcast was inspired by statistics highlighting the lack of investment, promotion and exposure of Black led ventures. The first series welcomes guests with an association to Imperial College London including alumni and one of their Imperial Venture Mentoring Service mentors. Please tune in, be inspired and share!

University of Nottingham: YES22 rethinking the future

YES22 is open for applications! Calling STEM PhDs, postdocs, technicians, early career academics and knowledge exchange professionals, to take part this autumn in Biotechnology YES, Engineering YES or Environment YES to gain commercial awareness and business skills from leading entrepreneurs and practitioners. YES is a global competition for those wishing to deploy novel science and engineering to address environmental and societal challenges. This year’s prize fund is £10k+. Discover more here; join one of our 30-minute online information sessions or help raise awareness.

Latest #EntEd news from six EEUK members

KCL: King’s Business School partner the British Business Excellence Awards

“Celebrating the very best of British business, the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards are proud to announce that entries are now open. The prestigious awards showcase the most notable businesses in the country, celebrating creativity, innovation and resilience within a variety of industries. The awards host a total of 16 award categories, with five brand new categories for 2022; The Lloyds Bank Sustainable Business of the Year, Diversity Champion of the Year, ESG Champion of the Year, Business Transformation of the Year and Leader of the Year. Enter here before June 13th.

Lancaster: Good Place Podcast 

Good Place Innovators in Lancaster University have launched a podcast as a part of their EEUK research project related to transforming communities with an extra sensitive eye for place, local context and true community needs through inter-connectivity of enterprise and design. This series of podcasts welcomes a diverse collection of place makers, place lovers and place believers aiming to inspire educators to connect to their place and transform their curriculum and students into responsible citizens with curious mind and a greater sense of belonging. Tune in and tell us what you think! Podcasts | Good Place Innovators (lancs.ac.uk)

Manchester: Network Intelligence (nIQ) Coaching launches 

Dr. Daria Tataj, Founder and CEO Tataj Innovation, and Honorary Professor at the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre (MEC) is launching the pilot Train-the-Trainer programme for Network Intelligence coaching. Network Intelligence is the capacity to turn people in your networks into collaborators who help you and your team increase performance, innovate, and grow with a purpose in mind. Learn how to optimise and power your network. This programme is for anyone, who wishes to master the Network Intelligence methodology to accelerate digital transformation, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking and catalyse the organisational change process. Find our more here

UWE Bristol: students Empowering refugee entrepreneurs 

UWE Bristol recently hosted a Social Impact Hackathon – a start-up brainstorming event where UWE students from the Team Entrepreneurship, Law, and Business and Management undergraduate programmes collaborated with refugee and migrant entrepreneurs associated with the West of England Growth Hub and Ashley Community & Housing to ideate solutions to the challenges faced within their ventures. The event helped the participants develop competencies such as team working, problem-solving, leadership, innovation, networking and building rapport and empathy. The teams pitched their solutions to a panel of business experts, receiving valuable feedback to guide them on the next steps of their ventures. 

York: The Myles Challenges App 

A fledgling business founded by University of York alumni has raised £250,000 to develop their fitness app. The Myles Challenges app offers virtual fitness challenges to help organisations with wellbeing, teambuilding, and fundraising. Over 17,000 people have signed up for the platform so far. The business is one of several supported by the University in recent years. In 2020, the University launched a new investment fund, Venture One, which offers funding to help businesses build their product or service to then demonstrate to investors.

Manchester: entrepreneurs share £75,000 prize money at Venture Further Awards 2022

Fifteen teams of Manchester-based entrepreneurs have been awarded cash prizes as part of the annual Venture Further start-up competition hosted by the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre (MEC). The winners were announced during a ceremony hosted by registrar, secretary and COO of The University of Manchester, Patrick Hackett, celebrating  the entrepreneurial talent and creativity of students and recent graduates across The University of Manchester. Lynn Sheppard, Director of MEC, commented: “The annual Venture Further competition is an opportunity for our students and early stage graduates to pitch their start-up ideas and win a significant cash injection to help realise their business goals.” Find out more about the winners