Venture Out student ideas competition winners revealed
07 Jan 2013
With more than 112 entries from schools across the University, judges selected 18 finalists to battle it out for the nine cash prizes in Manchester Enterprise Centre’s Venture Out 2012.
The 18 finalists displayed posters of their ideas at the awards ceremony held on Thursday, 13 December 2012. Three prizes of £500, £250 and £100 were awarded in each of the three categories – business, social and technology – with the prize money going towards development of the ideas.
The business category was won by Pharmacy students Zoe Phillips and Kirsty McFadden with their idea for a student-focussed campus pharmacy – something not currently available to Manchester students.
Zoe commented: "My colleague Kirsty and I had been thinking about our business idea for a while and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get the ball rolling. The application form got us to think in more depth about our idea and it developed from there."
MA Social Work students, Joanne Worthington and Phil Kerr, won the social ideas category with BakeXchange – an inter-generational baking project that helps young people at risk of exclusion whilst reaching out to older people in the community.
Joanne commented: “I heard about the competition at the social enterprise event during Global Entrepreneurship Week. I was inspired by the former students who had been given support to transform their ideas into reality.
“My colleague Phil and I plan to continue with the Venture Further competition and write a business plan. I would recommend the competition to others – it’s not just for business students!”
Cristian Menzel, studying for a PhD in Chemistry, won the technology category with Biocide – a self-adhesive anti bacterial film that can be applied to many surfaces to reduce the spread of bacteria.
Cristian said: “It is a good starting point to get more confidence if you have an idea and you want to start your own business. Now I want to take my idea to the next level.
“I would recommend for anyone who has a good idea to participate in Venture Out.”
Competition Director, Dr. Martin Henery, added: “The quantity, quality and diversity of entries into Venture Out this year has been fantastic. It has made the judges’ job both interesting and very challenging.
“By supporting students in applying their ideas to commercial and social opportunities, Manchester is producing world-class students equipped with both the cognitive abilities and practical skills necessary to translate those ideas into products and services that improve the lives of others."
The awards were presented by former competition entrants who have gone on to have entrepreneurial success. Mathias Schmid was part of the Venture Further 2012 winning team with Kaffeination Ltd; Jennifer O’Brien previously won both Venture Out and Venture Further and now runs the social enterprise, Venture Uganda; and Nick Henderson was a Venture Further runner-up in 2010 and is co-founder of Printers Inc.
Further information