Three of London’s leading universities, 15 ventures and more than 100 UK and international investors gathered to pitch, listen to and invest in world-changing concepts at the first ever London Demo Day at King’s College London’s Bush House.
University start-ups handpicked from King’s20 Accelerator, Imperial’s Venture Catalyst Challenge and UCL’s Hatchery presented their ideas to local and global investors to secure investment and support.
The innovative new businesses extended across a diverse range of industries, including healthcare, education, AI and robotics. They included Panakeia, a universal one-step engine for precision cancer diagnosis; Polipop, delivering flushable and biodegradable sanitary pads; and Musemio, a personalised virtual reality educational platform that brings culture to life for kids. Each promises to deliver positive change, solve a problem in society and challenge outdated systems using sustainable solutions.
Technology entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Starling Bank, a UK mobile-only bank, Anne Boden MBE, opened the event. She said, ‘The wonderful thing about this event is it brings together people to inspire each other, to listen to each other’s pitches, to see and experience the possible.’
Julie Devonshire OBE, Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute at King’s, added, ‘London Demo Day, which first started at King’s, is a perfect example of deep collaboration created for a vibrant network of global investors that will bring new investment in innovation to the capital.’
By working together, King’s, UCL and Imperial attracted new investors to their combined pitching event – half of whom hadn’t worked with the universities before.