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The creators of an automated defibrillator and an online food delivery service have claimed top prizes at the UK’s largest competition for entrepreneurs.
Pulse AED won first prize of £5,000 and Hungry Panda won the Vice-Chancellor’s Entrepreneurial Potential award of £10,000 at Ingenuity17. The winners were announced at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 12 April at The University of Nottingham.
Ingenuity17 is the brainchild of academics at The Ingenuity Lab, based in the Haydn Green Institute at The University of Nottingham. The annual University-wide entrepreneurship competition aims to unite academic theory with entrepreneurial practice.
In February this year over 350 Nottingham students, researchers and alumni were given the chance to compete to be in with the chance of winning a share of the £113,000 prize fund available through the competition. During a three-day conference, competitors pitched for a range of cash prizes and support.
Pulse AED
The overall winner of the competition was Pulse AED - the creation of Nottingham Product Design and Manufacture graduate Emma Hartley. Inspired by a heart-breaking story of a friend passing away after suffering a cardiac arrest at just 21 years of age, Emma pitched her idea of a brand new automated external defibrillator (AED), that will be brought to the market in the next two years.
Emma said on her win: “It’s absolutely amazing. Being a part of and winning Ingenuity17 means that I can start developing the product and the electronics inside of it; and get market ready and start to get people to licence it.
“To anyone thinking of applying next year for Ingenuity18, I’d say definitely do it. If you don’t get to the Top20 pitches the conference is invaluable as the connections you make you make with mentors and business is brilliant.”
Reaching an untapped market
PULSE has three distinct advantages over current models on the market – it is easy to use, lightweight and inexpensive. Any untrained person will be able to use PULSE, and the device’s step-by-step instruction and intuitive interactions takes pressure off the user in an emergency.
PULSE provides simple, step by step instruction, which means no training is required to use the device. Instruction provided alongside equipment means the patient is prepped correctly, and reduces the risk of ineffective shock.
It is 70% lighter than current models, and is smaller than traditional AEDs, and because of its high ingress protection rating means it opens the market to outdoor pursuits where emergency access is limited. Its main USP is its price – by retailing for under £100, it accesses an untapped market of home medical devices which competitors have not been able to sell to, because of their price.
Hungry Panda
Taking the Vice-Chancellor’s special medal was online food delivery service Hungry Panda. This medal is awarded to the business idea with the most growth potential.
Hungry Panda was founded by University of Nottingham alumni Kelu Liu. It is an online food delivery platform providing tailored services to Chinese consumers, and has quickly won the hearts of all who use it.
Since launching in August 2016, they have expanded to five UK cities, a number that is set to grow over coming months.
Simon Mosey, Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Director of the Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University, said: “The Ingenuity17 event was the most exciting to date. We were delighted to help over 350 students to showcase and develop their businesses to improve the environment, social inclusion and health and we are confident that with the support of our sponsors and mentors they will go on to realise their entrepreneurial ambitions.”
Claiming second prize of £3,000 was Thorne Goalkeeping and third prize of £2,000 was NutriGo.
Support from business
The event is sponsored by the University’s Asia Business Centre, Careers and Employability Team and partners including Santander Universities, Shakespeare Martineau, Potter Clarkson and BDO, Paragon Law, Sainsbury Management Fellows.
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. It is ranked in the world’s top 75 by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, and 8th in the UK for research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.
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