2013 UCL Bright Ideas Awards
For full details on the awards criteria and entry guidelines, please visit: Bright Ideas Awards Guidelines
AWARD ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED
Introduced in 2008,
the UCL Bright Ideas Awards aim to help bridge the gap that many new
companies find themselves in when they search for their first funding.
In the university context, this is a particular problem for those businesses that emerge from unconventional beginnings or where they have a seed of an idea, but are not yet ready for venture capital investment.
The winners of these awards will share up to a total of £50,000 in funding that will be offered as a loan to help get their businesses up and running. Specifically, it is hoped that the money will allow the winners to reach the next crucial milestone in their development, whether that be the first prototype or support for landing the first customer.
The Bright Ideas Awards are awarded to companies that are being created by UCL undergraduate and post-graduate students.
The 2012 winners were:
HelpYouApply, THIRSTPASS (now Monster Card), Old Bond Ltd, One Minute Manuscript (now MiniManuscript), SnapScope, Shufflehub, Poq Studio, faceEnergy, Sycle (now Jive) and WindowsPhoneGeek.
“The Bright Ideas Award has undoubtedly been the single greatest influence on the success of our business so far. Winning the award has enabled us to develop, launch and promote our website. Put simply, without the award we really couldn't have done it! Aside from the financial backing, of equal importance was the amazing support that we've received from the UCL Bright Ideas team. Their advice was, and continues to be, invaluable to us and we are truly grateful”.
2012 Bright Ideas Winners Jake Fairnie and Anna Remington, Founder Directors, MiniManuscript
"Winning the Bright Ideas Award was a huge boost for our company. Being able to apply for exactly the funding that we needed to bring the company to the next stage was a great opportunity. Additionally, the other support from UCL like free office space, personal advice from a huge range of people and great networking opportunities was also crucial for our current success. Every aspiring entrepreneur that is eligible to apply should definitely do so, even if it is only to get the honest advice from knowledgeable people about your business plan."
2012 Bright Ideas Winners Michael Langguth and Øyvind Henriksen, Founder Directors, Poq Studio
