Greg Gruzecki and David Graves launched a campaign to get their R&D business, OmniDynamics, up and running through the crowd-funding website Kickstarter.
David and Greg engaged their entrepreneurial initiative when they were told to find a placement as a business as part of their third year robotics degree at UWE.
David, 22, said: ‘We were told to go work for someone else. To start our own business wasn’t presented to us as an option, so we had to look for it. It wasn’t easy; we really had to create our own path.’
They need £20,000 in funding to bring their product, called Strooder, to market. They surpassed this initial target in 10 hours. To date, over 300 people have backed the business, pledging between £1 and £349.
“All it takes is an idea. Entrepreneurship is a self-enabling process.”
Greg said he had not expected the campaign to be so successful. Recalling the moment they watched the pledges coming in he said: ‘I was overwhelmed by the support and became very excited.’
Strooder (pictured left) is a piece of technology that turns plastic pellets into a single piece of solid plastic, called filament, that can be used for 3D printing.
David credits studying robotics at UWE for giving him an ’empowered’ and ‘entrepreneurial mindset’.
David said: ‘All it takes is an idea. Entrepreneurship is a self-enabling process.’
The start-up for OmniDynamics will be based inside the Bristol Robotics Laboratory.
Jill Burnett, Bristol Robotics Lab innovation manager, said that David and Greg made great robotics students because they have shown they could ‘walk the talk’.
The aim of OmniDynamics is to find a way to turn everyday plastics, such as empty milk bottles, into 3D printing material, enabling people with 3D printers to be ecological and cost effective.
The company is another startup to join Bristol’s already thriving start-up sector.
David and Greg have no plans to slow down their business model once they begin the final year of their degree.
David said: ‘This is something we are in for the long haul, we have many ideas to come. Strooder is just the beginning.’
See their Kickstarter video below:
See or pledge to Greg and David’s pitch on Kickstarter.
- You might like: Profile: Bristol Robotics Lab
Via: The Bristol Post
