Written by Kate Beresford
Picture credit David Tett.
King’s College London: Royal visit
The Entrepreneurship Institute team and ventures on the King’s 20 Accelerator were honoured to meet Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duchess of Cambridge on March 19th at the opening of Bush House. Formerly the home of the BBC World Service, the building has been completely renovated and now offers state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities. Students, staff and alumni showcased the ventures they’ve founded which include: Mamoq, German Kraft brewery, C the Signs, Live More, Black Ballad, Muslimah PRO, Gamely Games, Shortly, The Access Platform and Project Access. Read the full story of the Royal visit here.
Middlesex University: New MDXcelerator
Middlesex University has announced MDXcelerator – a new pan-University programme for students to engage in a pathway of support and resources towards successful launch of their business. The core is an online toolkit to guide students around the process of starting a business, lean canvas and pitch deck methodology, and development opportunities to get business-ready. MDX’s existing Enterprise Development Hub will continue to provide mentoring support and specialist workshops; and the business school’s flagship MSc Entrepreneurship Education programme has a new specialist module Entrepreneurship and Sustainability led by ecopreneur Dr Chris Moon. Contact Chris for more information. Photo (above) one Middlesex University MSc graduate installing solar panels on the roof of the largest employer in Gujarat state, India.
University of the Arts London: Fashion Means Business 19
Last month, London College of Fashion presented Fashion Means Business 19, a showcase of work from across the Fashion Business School’s 17 under and postgraduate courses. Held in partnership with Old Spitalfields Market, and supported by CPL Aromas, the event explored why ‘Fashion Means Business’ through a series of interactive labs, talks, and digital displays. The exhibition was divided into 4 sections – People, Planet, Profit, and Purpose – with each area discussing the current, and future state of fashion business. Within each of the sections students and graduates presented their final major projects, collaborative unit outcomes, and brand project work. More information about the Fashion Business School here.
Newcastle University: Amsterdam Sustainable Business Challenge 2019
6th-8th March saw four HE institutions host the first Amsterdam Sustainable Business Challenge. 100 students from Newcastle University, University of Liverpool, Vrije University and the University of Groningen; 16 business experts including Enterprise Rent A Car, ARUP, Santander and IBM – the challenge was fast paced, intense and a huge success! Hosted by Amsterdam inbusiness, students were challenged to develop an initiative to support foreign companies in Amsterdam engaging in CSR. Mixed student teams utilised a variety of tools and business meetings to generate a pitch resulting in an exhilarating final before a panel of Amsterdam inbusiness delegates. Read Dr Charlotte Hope’s blog here.
Cardiff Metropolitan University: Design Graduate secures £350k
Cardiff Metropolitan University Design Graduate, Jenny Evans has secured £350k in Angel funding. Jenny started her luxury homeware brand, Jenny Kate, whilst studying Textiles at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She won the national Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Award in 2018 and has been massively supported by her University and Santander on her start-up journey. Post-graduation she secured a place in the Natwest Entrepreneur Accelerator in Cardiff and was in the audience at the #PitchIt event hosted by Cardiff Met, organised by BeTheSpark and delivered “dragon’s den style” by the InspireWales Angel consortium who went on to fund her business. Read the full story here.