Four innovative student startups secured life-changing investments worth a combined £200,000 in a Dragons’ Den-style live pitching event, held at the University.
The student entrepreneurs pitched in front of four angel investors and a packed audience at the Students’ Union in the showcase hosted by the university’s Future Worlds startup incubator on Saturday 12 May.
First year Aeronautics and Astronautics student Connell McLaughlin was pledged £100,000 by four investors for Route Reports, an embedded sensor system which detects and flags hazards like potholes and overhanging branches on public transport.
Aerospace Engineering student Boateng Opoku-Yeboah, Mechanical Engineering student Landon Vago-Hughes and Computer Science graduate Tunde Alao secured £50,000 for their Cluttr app, an all-in-one private social network and household organiser that promises to help build harmony in shared homes.
First year Computer Science students Kajetan Champlewski and Dan Trickey were offered £30,000 for their maths revision tool Questioneer, while fourth year medical student Laura Brunning was pledged £20,000 for her first aid training enterprise Hampshire First Aid.
Fourth year Electronic Engineering student Dylan Grey showed great promise with his online gift service BOON, and Mathematical Studies and Actuarial Science students Louis Dykes and Yacob Siadatan pitched well for their business Airscape, but both startups were deemed too early stage for investment currently.
The pitching event is an annual showcase of a growing student enterprise culture at the University and was supported on Saturday by the Fish on Toast, Entrepreneurs Club and Enactus Southampton societies.
Dr Reuben Wilcock, Future Worlds Director, said:
“The student entrepreneurs really impressed the investors on Saturday with their passion, professionalism and presentation, and it will be exciting to see what they achieve in the coming years. Two startups from the 2017 showcase are now valued at over £1m and will be based in Silicon Valley and London from this summer.”
