April 2, 2017, by The Ingenuity Lab
Ingenuity17: Meet the Top 21!
“There’s lots of bad reasons to start a company. But there’s only one good, legitimate reason, and I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world.” – Phil Libin
After over 100 Business Plan submissions, the Ingenuity17 judges had their work cut out to whittle it down to a Top 20.
In fact, the standard of the competition has been so high this year, the judges decided to allow an extra team into the final shortlist!
Each team in the Top 21 is eligible for part of the £110,000+ prize fund. We are so excited to find out which teams are crowned winners at the Ingenuity17 Prize Giving Ceremony on Wednesday 12th April.
We caught up with the Ingenuity17 Top 21 after their pitches earlier this week to find out a bit more about them…
Bottle by Bottle
Bottle by Bottle
www.enactusnottingham.org/bottlebybottle
Enactus born Bottle by Bottle have formed a sustainable solution to the housing crisis in Nepal.
Providing communities with the tools and training to rebuild their homes, they are able to tackle a range of social, economic, and environmental issues!
Quensus
Quensus
Quensus offers intelligent water management solutions using the internet to decrease water bills and prevent water damages due to leaks.
Run by Ingenuity Lab member and The University of Nottingham Alumnus Dan Simmons (Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 2012; PhD, 2016), it is a great product with so much potential.
Fun fact from Dan: “Not many people know this, but I have an identical twin, also called Dan. It means I can do twice the work of any ordinary person!”
Tempting Earth
Tempting Earth
Tempting Earth aims to provide a delicious vegan ready-meal company with eco-friendly production and packaging that promotes healthy eating and takes inspiration from cuisines all over the world!
Founded by Zoology student, Daisy Mason, and Economics student, Aram Hawa, their one year plan includes travelling Britain selling their products at festivals and markets.
Keep your eyes peeled at this year’s festivals!
Foodprint
Foodprint
www.enactusnottingham.org/foodprint
Management student Elis Edhem and Industrial Economics student James Scott from Foodprint are both undergraduates at The University of Nottingham.
They also have two members of their team based in Malaysia conducting market research and running their social media!
Their business idea tackles food waste and food poverty simultaneously, and has the potential for fantastic social and environmental impacts.
Thorne Goalkeeping
Thorne Goalkeeping
Economics student and Ingenuity Lab member Harry Boulton reached the Top 20 of Ingenuity16, and now he’s back with an even bigger and better version of hs business Thorne Goalkeeping!
Thorne Goalkeeping was established with the intention of innovating and reducing the cost of high end protective goalkeeping equipment, thus ensuring keepers would not be excluded from this market just because of their income.
Miiito
Miiito
Founded by Ingenuity Lab member and former Asia Business Prize winner Lili Zhu (Film and Television Studies, 2015), Miiito plans to help students find their ideal job.
They provide successful and relevant CV & cover letters, helping job seeking students learn soft skills from the ones who shared your passion and journey.
They also have Ingenuity16 Top 20 entrepreneur, current student Barnaby Taylor, involved, and we are sure this business has big things to come!
Playchimp Ltd
PlayChimp
Playchimp Ltd is run by University of Nottingham Alumna, Mandeep Bilan (MBA, 2010), and her brother, Paul.
They make STEM based portable educational game computer kits for children aged 9 plus, based on the Raspberry Pi.
When they’re not developing Playchimp Ltd, Mandeep is currently writing a book on healthy eating and lifestyle, and Paul cycles 80-100 miles each week!
Pulse AED
Pulse AED
PULSE is an automated external defibrillator that is easy to use, requires no training, is lightweight, and is affordable to everyone.
It was founded by University of Nottingham Alumna and winner of the Ingenuity17 PeerPitch competition, Emma Hartley (Product Design, 2015).
Fun fact from Emma: “I was once chased by a hippo!”
Sustainable Water
Sustinable Water
University of Nottingham Alumna Tabitha Wacera (Sustainable Energy Engineering, 2016), founder of Sustainable Water, reached the Top 20 in Ingenuity16 and has continued to develop her business idea since then.
One billion people in the world lack access to water, a basic human right. Sustainable Water has developed a low-cost solar water pump to be deployed for irrigation in developing countries using a PAYG model.
Tabitha is also an Ingenuity Lab member, and enjoys exchanging innovative ideas with fellow members.
China Britain Football Association
China Britain Football Association
University of Nottingham Alumni Rob Avery-Phipps (International Relations, 2013) and Kayleigh Renberg-Fawcett (Contemporary Chinese Studies and International Relations, 2015) run a fantastic business that helps strengthen the relationship between the FA and their Chinese counterparts.
They play an incredibly important role in helping China reach their ambition to make football their national sport. So important, in fact, after their Top 21 pitch they went straight to a China Britain Business Council event in London for a spot of networking!
SNIP
SNIP are one of our Ingenuity17 teams based at The University of Nottingham’s Malyasia Campus (UNMC)!
The team is led by UNMC Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience student, Prishalini Rajagumar. Tariq Mohammad is currently undertaking his Foundation in Science, and works as the SNIP Web Developer. The third member of their team, Wael Aldroubi studies Computer Science, and works as the SNIP Web Designer. Their business aims to to bridge the gap between disabled undergraduates and professional employment worldwide.
They are currently in development, and hoping to reach their pilot testing stage by early 2018.
Winkworth & Chiu’s
Winworth & Chiu’s
Charlie and Natalie love food so much they both have degrees in Food Science!
The University of Nottingham Alumni Charlie Winkworth-Smith (Food Science, 2010; PhD Biomaterials, 2014) and Natalie Chiu (Nutrition and Food Science, 2012; PhD Food Science, 2016) want to create a range of sophisticated, non-alcoholic drinks designed to be paired perfectly with food.
They are currently in the pre-startup stage, and are aiming to launch by November.
Diss.
Diss.
Diss. is an online magazine which publishes investigative, feature length, societal based written and video content made by young people.
Run by Ingenuity Lab members and The University of Nottingham students Frazer Worboys (Contemporary Chinese Studies), Ben Wilcockson (Product Design) and Will McCartney (Economics and Philosophy), they are doing a great job at making waves in online content for our generation!
Firstline24
Firstline24
Firstline24 aims to revolutionise the way healthcare is delivered in Africa and developing regions, by using artificial intelligence to provide preventive care.
The University of Nottingham MSc Oncology student Donaldson Opoku is hoping to acquire enough financial support to fully develop the technology for a pilot study.
He also worked as a Part time DJ to support his family while studying in Ghana!
HungryPanda
HungryPanda
HungryPanda was founded by University of Nottingham Alumni Kelu Liu.
It is an online food delivery platform providing tailored services to Chinese consumers, and has quickly won the hearts of their customers.
Since launching in August 2016, they have expanded to five UK cities, a number that is set to grow over the coming months!
Lunar New You
Lunar New You
Sister double act and University of Nottingham Alumni, Disha (Sociology, 2016) and Trishna Daswaney (Management, 2015), have created a fantastic beauty business that gets the latest, high quality beauty products delivered monthly straight to your doorstep.
They were also the only Ingenuity17 Top 21 team that bought a chihuahua into their pitch!
Gigger
The Gigger project is an eco-system who to connect the three parties necessary for the development of a diversified local live music life: the venue owners, the musicians and the people enjoying the live music atmosphere through two features: a matching tool between venues and musicians, and a catalog of our gigs.
Hailing from The University of Nottingham’s Ningbo Campus, the Gigger team is made up of 3 MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship Management students, Gregoire-Henri Bolnot, Laurent Madier and Bakyt Turatbekov.
Nutri2Go
Nutri2Go
Nottingham Post Women in Business Awards winner and Ingenuity Lab member Jordana Chin is shaking up the takeaway market in Nottingham.
With her healthy lunches delivered straight to your office, she is a firm lunchtime favourite in the Nottingham community.
Jordana is best known as “the girl on the trike”, as she delivers all her food on the Nutri2Go trike
Kohl Kreatives
Kohl Kreatives
Ingenuity Lab member Trishna Daswaney has also entered Ingenuity17 with Lunar New You.
Kohl Kreatives is a make-up brand with a different. The profits made through the sale of their Shapes Collection is reinvested to their charity, Kohl Kares. Kohl Kares delivers make-up workshops and supports to the transgender community, and people who have suffered from facial disfigurement due to illness.
Trishna is also a great example of the value the Ingenuity competition can give to young businesses! This is her sixth year entering the competition, and the first time she has been shortlisted.
Walkin
Walkin
Walkin was founded by former University of Nottingham Students Union President, Amos Teshuva.
His app let’s you walk into a restaurant in real time without ever having to queue.
As for a fun fact, he doesn’t have one for himself, but does know that there are more vending machines in Japan than people in New Zealand (We can’t vouch for how true this is, however!).
We can’t wait to see what the future holds for these 21 amazing businesses, and look forward to announcing the prize winners at the Ingenuity17 Prize Giving Ceremony on Wednesday 12th April!
If their business ideas and stories have inspired you, why not become a member of The Ingenuity Lab? We provide support to all University of Nottingham students, alumni and early-stage researchers. Find out more here.
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