Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs » bright ideas

Royal Holloway students scoop £5,750 in Bright Ideas and UnLtd Awards

John King — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 11:48:23 +0000

Royal Holloway students have continued their run of entrepreneurial competition wins by taking top prizes in the WestFocus Bright Ideas competitions and receiving UnLtd grants totalling £5,750.

Luka Blackman-Gibbs, Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs’ President 2010-11 won a £1,000 Bright Ideas grant and £3,500 from UnLtd for Study Buddy, her pioneering online skills exchange. Luka said, “Winning these awards is a vote of confidence for Study Buddy. Being a member of Study Buddy can increase your skills base, your employability and hopefully your grades. The scheme is flexible around your timetable, you can have unlimited numbers of buddies, or just exchange quick tips in the students forums.”

Luka has received more than £7,500 in funding since starting the project from four different sources.

Louis Mech, winner of the Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs’ Dragons’ Den competition, received a £1,000 top prize in the Bright Futures competition. His VEO social enterprise gives a pair of adjustable spectacles to a person in need for every pair of sunglasses you purchase. Louis said, “VEO promises to never forget why a group of friends started this company. We were young, ambitious and out to change the world. We still are.”

Both Louis and Luka also won support and mentoring through the Startup Smart competition.

If you are thinking of starting a business and need some funding, you can get advice on entering competitions and a list of competitions you can enter.

Win £1000 for your Bright Science Idea

John King — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:49:40 +0000

Do you have a bright idea for a new or improved service or product which is based in science, technology, engineering or mathematics? Put your ideas on paper and compete with your peers. You don’t need any formal business knowledge and you can enter on your own or as part of a team.

“We now have belief in our idea, and ourselves, and believe that if we focus on it, we can succeed.”

HARMEET ARORA, previous winner

Get involved with the competition to learn how to:
• explore and develop your ideas
• make your CV stand out
• pitch yourself and your ideas for help and support
• kick start your idea!

Enter via the WestFocus website by 13 December 2010. We will be running a special all day drop-in advice session on Friday 10th December in Enterprise Lab, Orchard Building.

If your idea isn’t science related, you can still enter the main Bright Ideas competition!

Win £1,000 for your bright idea

John King — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:07:37 +0000

Do you have a bright idea for a new or improved service or product, or a social enterprise or project? Put your ideas on paper and compete with your peers. You don’t need any formal business knowledge and you can enter on your own or as part of a team.

It’s simple – come up with a BRIGHT IDEA, apply and you could win one of:

7 prizes of £1000
16 prizes of £250
Plus an additional £250 for the best healthcare idea.

The deadline for applications is 5pm December 11th. Enter via the Westfocus website.

To help you develop an existing idea, come up with a new idea or find partners to work with, we are running an all day masterclass at the beautiful campus of Roehampton University on Thursday 19th November. To book a FREE place at the workshop, including minibus travel from RHUL and food, contact us.