Last week six finalists went head-to-head, pitching their ideas for ‘businesses for good’ to a panel of judges, in front of a live audience, and the third-place prize went to Eliot Hardwick (Fashion Communication) and Jess Woods (Fashion Design) for Dead Ugly Designs, a circular, gender-neutral, street-style clothing brand.

Each finalist had five minutes to pitch their idea to the panel of judges. The judges then asked each finalist questions, and also shared valuable, constructive feedback with each of them.

The Startup Ideas Competition was sponsored by Santander Universities, Create, Creative Pod, Plus Accounting and Plus X Innovation and is an annual competition managed by the university’s Student Enterprise team (called ‘beepurple’) to uncover the most innovative ideas generated by our students and recent graduates.

This year’s runners-up included Raffi Palazzo, also a Fashion Communication student.

The beepurple team sought ideas which were inspired by the University of Brighton’s Global Challenges, informed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and the panel of judges was made up of Neema Amin, Louise Graham, Toby Kress, and Matt Turner.

The university’s Business Development Manager (Entrepreneurship), Clare Griffiths, said ‘The quality of this year’s final was particularly high! The beepurple team would like to congratulate all six finalists, as well as thank everyone who entered the competition’.

Find out about studying Fashion at the University of Brighton.

To find out more about how you – as student or a graduate from the University of Brighton – can access startup support from the beepurple team, please email: beepurple@brighton.ac.uk and follow @uobbeepurple on Instagram.

Photo credit: Victoria Dawe Photography