November 18, 2024, by aezdb

Celebrating another year of entrepreneurial success! A recap of 2023/24 at the Ingenuity Lab

Dr Terri Holloway, Head of the Ingenuity Lab

The Ingenuity Lab is such an inspiring place, and each year, we’re amazed at the amount of support we receive from our community of entrepreneurs-in-residence (EIRs), mentors, and staff team as we aim to launch society’s next batch of world leaders and innovators!

As usual, we felt this year was better than ever before as our businesses and Lab offer continue to develop and flourish annually. During the 2023/2024 academic year, we delivered a host of exciting roundtables, alumni fireside chats, business development programmes, networking events, and even a conference-style food expo for the very first time!

The launch

We began our events programme on the 24th of January with an informative session from Tyrone Courtman on how to rescue a struggling business against the odds. In these uncertain financial times, this session offered insight and strategies to our venture members and wider university at a time when we needed it most.

We then went on to host one of our most exciting ‘Pitch to Win’ competitions to date in February, awarding three worthy winners with top prizes to help launch their phenomenal ideas! Our First Place and People’s Choice winner was the fantastic Nathan Harrison-Clark of The PhD Place; our Second Place winner was the amazing Ella Bramhall of UniTal and our Third Place winner was the wonderful Mohammed Musa of Warriors Within. Congratulations to all our participants and we can’t wait to see where your pitches take you in coming years!

In March, we transitioned from pitch practice to networking as Fiona Duncan Steer taught us how to ‘Work the room like a pro’, highlighting how invaluable communication skills can be in the life of entrepreneurs and professionals in the workforce. Following Fiona’s interactive session, we welcomed our esteemed alum Andrew Duncan to simplify the concept of intellectual property (IP) for an audience of business owners, students, and university staff members, compiling his years of IP experience into an hour of incredible tips and invaluable guidance.

Welcoming our fantastic alumni

In April, we held two more impactful sessions, providing our members with the foundational knowledge to help lead them to startup success! On the 10^th of April, alumni Lawumni Nwaiwu wowed us with her session on ‘How to develop an entrepreneurial mindset,’ which helped us to realise the role of confidence and positive thinking in growing a business. We love collaborating with our alumni at the Lab as it reminds us of just how brilliant it is to be a Nottingham grad! ‘What really resonated with me was the Lab’s focus on providing students with real-world opportunities whilst connecting them with mentors, industry experts, and encouraging a supportive community,’  Lawumni said. It was so great to have her with us and we can’t wait to see her again!

Speaking of phenomenal alumni, on the 24th of April, alumnus and EIR, Graham Podmore taught us how to turn our ideas into a ‘real business’. During this exciting Roundtable, Graham explained the importance of market research and investing time into truly understanding the needs of your client base.

On the 22nd of May, we launched our very first Ingenuity Lab Food Expo where members of the Ingenuity Lab, Haydn Green Institute, and the wider university came together to showcase food innovation, enterprise, and technology. Attendees browsed pop-up food stalls full of sensational tastes from our international community, heard all about the latest health food and drink innovations, and celebrated the amazing food-related ventures developing their businesses with the University of Nottingham. We had a brilliant time and can’t wait to host our next expo…Watch this space!

Business training and development

The close of the academic year was all about business development and training, which kicked off with our business incubator, The Link. The Link is designed for entrepreneurs at the very start of their business journey and provides the skills and know-how to turn ideas into viable enterprises.

We ended the year with a bang, celebrating the 5^th anniversary of our amazing accelerator programme, Scale. Scale is a 5-week course designed to bridge the knowledge gap between establishing a viable idea and taking the next steps towards sustained growth…To prepare our incoming cohort for this year’s pitch in week 5, we welcomed EIR, Keith Burgess to deliver our Roundtable “Perfect your pitch” on the 19 June. We then welcomed a group of phenomenal businesses from the 2nd-30^th July, for training in business planning, HR, sales, and finance, finishing the year’s successes with an exciting celebration barbecue for all!

It’s been quite a magnificent year indeed! Join us next year for even more innovation, creativity, and loads of start-up success!

For more information on the Ingenuity Lab and the work we do, visit our website here. 

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