Winners of the Startup Ideas Competition 2024 are announced!

On Wednesday, 13 March, the six finalists of the University of Brighton’s Startup Ideas Competition 2024 went head-to-head, pitching their ideas for ‘businesses for good’ to a panel of judges, in front of a live audience.

The Startup Ideas Competition, generously sponsored by Santander Universities, Create, Creative Pod, Plus Accounting and Plus X Innovation, 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, the beepurple team sought ideas which were inspired by the University of Brighton’s Global Challenges, informed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

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

After a period of deliberation, the panel of judges (made up of Neema Amin, Louise Graham, Toby Kress, and Matt Turner), announced the top, three winners:

The first-place prize was awarded to Alma Akhavi for her innovation for an insulation block made out of agricultural waste.

The second-place prize went to Max Male for his innovation, SnapKit, a sustainable and affordable children’s toy.

The third-place prize went to Eliot Hardwick and Jess Woods for Dead Ugly Designs, a circular, gender-neutral, street-style clothing brand.

This year’s runners-up were: Kedar Namdas, Omasiri Nkwodinmah, and Raffi Palazzo.

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’.

The beepurple team is looking forward to supporting all finalists pursue their entrepreneurial ideas over the coming months.

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