Winners of Spark 2020 Announced
On 24 November, the Spark Awards 2020 programme concluded with a live pitching event hosted during Thrive Festival.
The virtual event saw 11 budding entrepreneurs from the Spark programme pitch their business ideas for the first time in hopes of getting their hands on £500 to test and develop their hopeful ventures. All 11 pitchers have spent the last 8 weeks partaking in our Spark Awards introduction to business programme.
Through a series of webinars run by James Lemon from The Growth Works, and weekly meetings and mentoring from Ross Jordan, Sunil Oberoi and Emma Zangs, attendees gained the fundamental skills needed to transform their ideas into reality and take the first steps into their business journey.
On the night, we saw 67 people from across the globe tune in to support our entrepreneurs, along with our four expert judges:
- Lydiah Igweh, Director of Enterprise Support
- Abeed Janmohamed, Founder and Director of Volando and Brookes Alumni
- Michael Buick, Founder of Pegg Furniture, and Fuel Award winner 2019/2020
- Kate Nightingale, Founder of Pip Food and Brookes Alumna
The judges granted 5 Spark Award prizes of £500 on the night to the following businesses:
Eleanor Monk, Fine Art BA
Flatpack Gallery is a pop-up shop, gallery and creative hub making the arts more accessible.
June Murage, Building Information Modelling and Management
Refillable, scented candles in upcycled beer and spirit bottles.
Laurent Gigou, Master of Business Administration
An app to make swapping goods & services Easy, Fun & Secure.
Sergio Gutierrez, Staff at Brookes Print Services
UK Natural Beauty products - A commercial agent for natural beauty products that are made in the UK and sold in Bogota, Colombia
Venu Madhav, MSc hotel and tourism management
Vegan seasoning that makes everything taste like bacon
Eleanor Monk of Flatpack Gallery was also the winner of the People’s Choice Prize, which saw the live audience vote for their favourite pitch of the night. She received a business support package which includes an Enterprise Nation membership.
All those who were not awarded funding on the night have been assigned a mentor who they will be able to work with over the next few months in order to improve their pitches to submit again next semester.
If you want the opportunity to pitch next semester, join our Spark Awards Programme 2021. Spark programme">Find out more and apply now!