The finalists have been chosen for this year’s Business Start-Up Journey competition, with potentially winning pitches including a vegan e-commerce site, swimwear brand, a nutrition and fitness app and a portable light ring.
The BSUJ is a co-curricular programme of interactive practical workshops open to students from any School or Faculty at the University of Kent, at any level of study from Stage 1 undergraduate to final year, postgraduate and PhD.
The Journey, which is part of the University’s Study Plus programme, takes students through the process of starting a business – from finding an idea, testing it, establishing finances and start-up costs, to pitching to investors.
The programme ends with a Dragon’s Den style pitching competition, where hopefuls battle it out to win a cash prize for investment in their business. The final will take place via Zoom on March 31 2021.
The Finalists
- Geraldine Nythal, for My Care Buddy, a CRM that will empower carers and care providers to collect, store and analyse client health data to enable data driven decision making in care.
- Viktoria Bogos, for FlipLight Ltd, a phone accessory company that makes a portable, wireless ring light: ‘The FlipLight’. FlipLight makes it possible to light any target in a five-meter radius (even outdoor), using both front and rear phone cameras.
- Jessica Lambert for a brand-new fitness and wellbeing app which aims for individuals to track milestones, sharing their own progress, workouts and nutrition whilst getting inspiration from others.
- Naavyaa Ranjan for Rganica, a natural, vegan hair care brand that responds to increasing demand of completely natural and vegan hair care products and scalp scrubs.
- Mercy Adeniji for VeGate, a vegan food delivery service, an ethical and efficient way of getting all your vegan necessities in one place and delivered to your doorstep.
- Emmanuel Ojo-Williams for Mind Share, an all-in-one platform for creating, selling and marketing digital products.
- Uni Connect – launched by a team of students (Miguel Cardona, Astrid Marilyn Whitehouse, Victor Naya Del Rosario, Gracia Gimenéz Fernández, Francisco Vives Jiménez and Celia Castuera Menéndez) is a platform that connects students, alumni and staff from the same university, allowing them to work together on small scale projects such as start-ups, societies and clubs.
- Shanice Edwards for SlayNSwim, a swimsuit company for all unique shapes and body sizes. The brand aims to cater to all body types while enhancing different curves and shapes.
The Prizes
The winner of the pitching competition will receive £1000 to help start their business, with two runners-up prizes of £500 each. While the judges decide on the winners, finalists and the audience can compete in a fun quiz with the chance to win £100 to spend at selected ASPIRE start-up businesses.
Previous Business Start-Up Journey finalists have gone on to run successful businesses, including KBS alumnus Vasu Sarin, founder of medi-tech company TabCare, Politics graduate, Tobi Kolawole-Olutade, founder of RR Collective, Ruth Vanderfaille, co-founder of Real Brides and Esther Asaolu, Jelikatu Kamara and Fatima Kamate, co-founders of Shady Beauty.
To register for the event, email ASPIRE@kent.ac.uk.
Visit the ASPIRE page on the Kent Business School website for more information on the Business Start-up Journey and how it can help grow your entrepreneurial skills.