Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme Showcase

We had an inspirational afternoon at the Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme Showcase event which was recently held at our Langside Campus. The event saw student entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a judging panel to win funding.

The students have all taken part in our LaunchPad Entrepreneur Accelerator programme, which was funded through the Scottish Government’s Ecosystem fund project. The 12-week programme has helped participants (both staff and students) to explore entrepreneurship, build business skills including ideation, branding and finance, and gain the confidence to turn their business ideas into reality.

During the event we heard from programme lead Sharon Crombie and our Entrepreneur in Residence Bayile Adeoti FRSA about the impact of the programme, as well as from guest speaker Anna Devitt, who shared her inspirational story and experience as an entrepreneur.

Seven students pitched their ideas which ranged from clothing and accessories to beauty and hair products and support for mental health.

Congratulations to Volodymyr Korbin whose travel app idea impressed the judges, securing first place and £800 in funding. Volodymyr commented, “I really didn’t expect this. I came here to improve my pitching skills but the fact I have won the pitch gives inspiration to me that my idea could be a success. I’ll use the money to help with market research to help understand what customers want.”

Our judging panel included Rebecca McEwan, Innovation and Growth Consultant Dimitrios Galaios, and Sharon Crombie and Michael Canning.
Well done to all those who took part in the pitches, shown above, and to all the Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme participants.

Many thanks to everyone who came along to the event today to support the participants, and who have supported the programme along the way.

The full results were:
1st place: Volodymyr Korbin £800 (top image)
2nd place: Hafeesah Olaosebikan £600
3rd place (joint): Liam King and Connie Green £300 each
Runners up: Marieme Cisse, Yara Alamad and Lynsey Merrick £100 each