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Celebrating UCL’s international entrepreneurs

23 August 2022

This World Entrepreneurs’ Day (WED) on August 21, we are celebrating three promising enterprises. Zubair Junjunia, Sonakshi Senthil, Dr Nikhit Anilbhai, and Kartik Sharma are all at the beginning stages of their journey into the world of business.

Zubair Junjunia headshot

The founders, international UCL graduates, are supported by UCL Innovation & Enterprise working with the Home Office to endorse UCL graduates for a Startup or Innovator visa. The visa enables high potential candidates to establish or pursue a business in the UK.

Five of UCL’s most impactful startups were awarded a share of £45,000 in funding and others recognised at this year’s annual UCL Santander Summer Showcase, supported by Santander Universities UK.

Znotes

Zubair Junjunia (UCL Mathematics 2020) born to Pakistani parents in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, won a Hatchery commendation at the Santander Summer Showcase.

The Hatchery is the university’s dedicated startup incubator programme at BaseKX, UCL’s entrepreneurship hub in King’s Cross, managed by UCL Innovation & Enterprise.

Zubair has received numerous recognition and awards, most notably The Diana Legacy Award for his social impact start-up ZNotes, reaching almost 4 million students. In this video, Zubair wishes us a Happy World Entrepreneur’s Day and explains what it means to be an entrepreneur at UCL.

MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/gGjF191G

 

Your Cue

Sonakshi Senthil and Dr Nikhit Anilbhai

Dr Nikhit Anilbhai (UCL Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine 2021) and Sonakshi Senthil (UCL Personalised Medicine and Novel Therapies 2021), both from India, won the Hatchery Start-up of the Year at this year’s Santander Summer Showcase.

Innovating in healthcare, they co-founded Your Cue. Nikhit and Sonakshi share what inspired them and their global potential.

Nikhit said: “Your Cue makes medical grade wearables, that enable continuous patient vital monitoring and automates alerts and notifications to the healthcare personnel. Our smart wearable is finger based and continuously monitors the patient's heart rate, blood oxygen, body temperature, and body movements (ECG + blood pressure trends in future versions). This continuous data collection combined with customisable alerts and notifications for every patient, allows doctors and nurses to detect even the earliest signs of clinical deterioration and be able to choose which patients need attention first.

"Being a part of the Hatchery incubator programme at UCL has immensely accelerated our development and growth. We have learnt so much about the ins and outs of the business world from leading experts who come to teach us. I have come to believe that anybody can be an entrepreneur, all they need a good idea, dedication, and an incubator like the Hatchery.

"My inspiration comes from the pain and suffering of my patients that I experienced during Covid. Moreover, in 2021, my father lost his life due to lack of timely intervention and with Your Cue we are trying to make sure that no one must go through that again.”

Sonakshi added: “Tackling Challenges is my favourite part of the business. Being an entrepreneur, you are always faced with one, be it in a deadline for a competition, managing the legal/financial documentation for the company or even strategizing the way your business needs to move forward today. I have always thought of myself as a person who can troubleshoot problems with creative solutions. Having said that, it isn't always easy to find a solution that works best for the business and for you, but in the process of finding one we are constantly exploring and learning. These challenges are what get me out of bed every day and I love that about Your Cue.

"I would like to thank all the teaching personnel on the M.Sc. Personalised medicine and novel therapies course. The time spent achieving that master’s degree has helped me develop a much broader way of thinking as to how I, or anyone can effect change in the way healthcare is delivered globally. The amazing professors, combined with the entrepreneurship module has helped me translate theoretical knowledge into the real-life start-up that Your Cue is today.

"Nikhit and I strongly believe that quality healthcare is a right for all. Your Cue aims on making healthcare affordable and accessible to everyone. Moreover, with our smart device ecosystem we can achieve this whilst also decreasing the workload on healthcare staff worldwide. We envision Your Cue to make continuous monitoring for ALL hospitalised patients the new standard in healthcare."

Public Arts Health & Us

Kartik Sharma

Dr Kartik Sharma (UCL Health Humanities 2019), from New Delhi, India won the Most Promising Social Enterprise award at this year’s Santander Summer Showcase for his community interest company, Public Arts Health & Us (PAHUS). We asked Kartik about his aspirations for the business and reflections on WED.

Kartik said: "Public Arts Health & US (PAHUS) was founded to address a gap – between research knowledge generation and its access to their target audience in interesting and engaging formats using the arts & films. 

"PAHUS in the past years has been supporting academics from institutions various higher institutions, including UCL. With project topics addressing racism in Black and South Asian Communities; homelessness, hygiene, nutrition and mental health.

"Within five years we would like to be a nationally renowned one-stop-shop for academics and organisations for creative communication of their research or social awareness campaigns. We would like to have a presence in the media & screening industry, with promotion and distribution strategies in place.

"By 2032 we would like to establish PAHUS as a global hub or laboratory where policy makers, academics and non-governmental organizations can actively engage with diverse artists, with facilitation from PAHUS to explore and co-create awareness pieces that balance the sensitivity of research with artistic sensibilities.

"I feel World Entrepreneurs’ Day is a much-needed day for celebrating the innovative and transformational work of entrepreneurs globally to make life simpler for society. WED goes a long way in inspiring young people!"

UCL’s support for entrepreneurs

In total, over 330 new graduate businesses were started at UCL between 2014 and 2021. Collectively they have raised over £226 million in investment and currently employ more than 1,900 people.

The Hatchery incubator programme provides free support and dedicated office space for the university’s most promising startups. This includes access to masterclasses, clinics and competitions, fast-tracking success and preparing for investment.

Other entrepreneurial support for students and recent graduates includes events, workshops and a dedicated doctoral student and early career researchers entrepreneurship programme, SPERO. 

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