{"id":22033,"date":"2024-04-17T20:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T19:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/?p=22033"},"modified":"2024-04-22T09:31:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T08:31:39","slug":"student-entrepreneur-wins-pitch-judged-by-dragons-den-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2024\/04\/student-entrepreneur-wins-pitch-judged-by-dragons-den-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Student entrepreneur wins pitch judged by Dragon\u2019s Den star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, student entrepreneurs from across the University had the rare opportunity to deliver a Dragon\u2019s Den style pitch to an actual \u2018Dragon\u2019.<\/p>\n

Entrepreneur, investor and star of the BBC\u2019s Dragon\u2019s Den, Touker Suleyman, was one of five successful business leaders on the judging panel at the final of the\u00a0ASPIRE Business Start-Up Journey<\/a>\u00a0organised by\u00a0Kent Business School<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Students pitched ideas for start-ups ranging from cold-pressed soaps to online text editors, but it was first year undergraduate student, Oleksii Tyslenko who won with his plan for a self-serviced coffee station business, Fast Coffee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Izzy Cornelius-Merrell who grew up in Canterbury was one of the runners up. Her gluten-free play dough business \u2018Dough Creations\u2019 was praised by judges for solving a problem faced by nurseries who need to be mindful of gluten intolerances in young children. Pawanraj Shetty and Dheeraj Karamballi were also runners up with their biodegradable cutlery business, Leafy Dine.<\/p>\n

The event marked the end of an inspirational 15-week programme open to all Kent students which provided budding entrepreneurs with a step-by-step guide to starting a business with mentoring from real businesses along the way.<\/p>\n

Business leaders judging the pitches alongside Touker Suleyman were:<\/p>\n