Great news from Ordoo. SETsquared – a partnership of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey that encourages student entrepreneurship and provides opportunities for startups to grow – is set to honour the UK’s most entrepreneurial university students and graduates at its annual Student Enterprise Awards this evening.
At the event, hosted this year by the University of Southampton, there will be awards for Best Student Enterprise, Best Graduate Enterprise and Game Changer Social Enterprise. A People’s Choice award will also be presented as voted for by audience members.
A once in a lifetime trip to America
The Grant Thornton Entrepreneurial Excellence Award is the main award that the entrepreneurs will be vying for – a fully funded trip to America that will enable students and graduates to develop their ideas for market in the USA.
One of the companies in the running for the Grant Thornton award and set to be honoured tonight is Ordo, from The University of Bath.
“With the right support, mentoring and access to funding there is no reason that students and graduates can’t develop their start-ups into national and international businesses”
Simon Bond, innovation director at SETsquared, said: “The number of young people going on to set up their own businesses straight from our five partner universities is increasing year on year and it’s refreshing to see so many young people being fearless and taking the leap.
“While the entrepreneurialism route is often perceived as a risky one, there is more help out there now for budding entrepreneurs than ever. With the right support, mentoring and access to funding there is no reason that students and graduates can’t develop their start-ups into national and international businesses.”
Ordable app from the University of Bath
Ordoo has developed an app called Ordable which enables you to browse, order and pay for food and drinks at restaurants using your smartphone. The iBeacon technology behind it means the app can micro-locate smartphone users indoors and even assign them to a table.
“It’s important that all stakeholders help support entrepreneurship at a local and regional level…we are delighted to provide this fantastic opportunity for one of the shortlisted businesses to win a trip to the USA”
Norman Armstrong, partner at Grant Thornton’s Southampton office said: “Entrepreneurship has a huge part to play in the growth of the UK economy over the coming years and is directly related to creating sustainable and dynamic communities.
“It’s important that all stakeholders and not just the government do all they can to help support entrepreneurship at a local and regional level.
“That’s why we are incredibly supportive of the work of SETsquared and why we are delighted to provide this fantastic opportunity for one of the shortlisted businesses to win a trip to the USA to further their market research.”
Nominations from the University of Bath and the University of Bristol
Other shortlisted companies from The University of Bath include Pasta Pit-Stop – a restaurant aimed at ‘Generation Z street food’ diners, fusing a lively, themed bar with a self-service eating area; and Office Pantry – a graduate start-up that delivers super foods to offices.
Companies from The University of Bristol also up for the awards include Filthy Banana – a food business selling hot banana desserts; Idea Skateboards – a graduate business that provides the skate community with originally designed clothing and art; The Bristol Bicycle Company – the company offers cheap and affordable bike rentals to students in Bristol who otherwise may not have the money to cycle.
The University of Exeter’s shortlisted companies includes Siymb, Pulsenotes and TickBox; from the The University of Southampton, the shortlist includes SanEco, DividaBill and Metix Ltd. And The University of Surrey’s student businesses who are also in the running are Red Gap, Team Tops Ltd and TrueInvivo.
To find more innovative tech projects originating in the West of England, check out Venturefest Bristol & Bath on 9 June.
- You may like: TechSPARK Entrepreneurs Club at Venturefest
