King's College London

Students and alumni from across King’s delivered 90-second pitches in front of a live audience and judging panel featuring: Holly Knower (Head of Ventures & Acceleration), Theo Ohene (Founder of Skyamo and Growth Expert-in-Residence) and Mmekidmfon Umanah (Founder and CEO of Aimcare and King’s PhD student).

With no previous experience, prep or slides necessary, pitching slots were allocated on a first come first serve basis. 10 £200 prizes were on offer, alongside mentoring opportunities with the Entrepreneurship Institute’s Experts-in-Residence. Pitches were assessed against three criteria:

1. A clearly defined problem
2. Founder-market fit
3. Clear plan for using the prize money towards idea testing

Congratulations to the 10 winners!

Aya Safieddine	Student	International Development BA (Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy)
Emily Rose Wagner	Student	Regenerative Medicine and Innovation Technology iBSc (Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences)
Guido Filippetti	Student	Strategic Entrepreneurship & Innovation MSc (King’s Business School)
Jing Xuan Soo	Alumni	Biomedical Science BSc (Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine)
Karan Kapadia	Student	Philosophy and Business BA (Faculty of Arts & Humanities)
Kwelani-Kay Lawton	Alumni	Digital Economies MSc (Faculty of Arts & Humanities)
Owen Hanley	Alumni	International Conflict Studies MA (Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy)
Shaan Kulkarni	Student	MedTech Innovation & Entrepreneurship MSc (King’s Business School)
Solene Declas	Alumni	Psychology BSc (Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience)
Ubaid Tanzim	Alumni	Medicine MBBS (Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine)

Ideas pitched on the night covered solutions to a range of problems, including reducing waste, sustainability, access to services, artificial intelligence and building community.

The prize money will enable the winners to test their ideas or develop their skills as an entrepreneur, whether that’s in the form of market research, marketing, building a prototype and more.

All 30 pitchers have been offered a 1:1 mentoring opportunity with a member of the Entrepreneurship Institute team. Pitchers are also invited to apply for Idea Factory, King’s flagship early-stage ideas competition which launches this November.

The event was hosted by Erika Brodnock, Co-founder and CEO of Kinhub and Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London in Artificial Intelligence. Networking followed the pitches, giving audience members the opportunity to connect and share ideas.

Photos: Nathan Clarke Photography.