The Varsity Pitch 2007 was a huge success - thank you to all of you who came and we hope you had a great evening! Six teams of Oxford and Cambridge student entrepreneurs pitched their ideas for a total of £10K prize money in the fiercely contested competition at the Saïd Business School, Oxford. Three prizes were awarded as follows:
The Oxford Entrepreneurs runner-up prize of £2,500 was awarded to Matoke Matoke - the brainchild of Jessica Mather-Hillon and Brad Chen who have set up a fair trade company to sell embroidered napkins made by women displaced in the civil war in Northern Uganda.
The Cambridge University Entrepreneurs runner-up prize went to RemRom Medical Devices who specialise in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of pathbreaking medical devices designed for surgery through the mouth (minimally invasive surgery or MIS).
The overall winner of the competition with a prize of £5,000 was TouchSight from Cambridge, who have developed a unique mobility aid for the blind and visually impaired. The glove-based system - called the Touchsight Vision Mitt - enables the user to ‘sense' their surroundings using ultrasonic sensors and vibration feedback actuators, providing a low cost alternative or supplement to guide dogs or white sticks.
The student teams presented to a highly experienced and formidable panel of judges including:
- Peter Jones (Entrepreneur of Dragon's Den fame)
- Martha Lane Fox, (Co-Founder of Lastminute.com)
- Michael Birch (Co-founder and CEO, Bebo.com)
- Ian Lobley (Senior Partner, 3i)
- Jim Lawn (Head of Microsoft Innovation Strategy in the UK)
Thank you for all your support and helping to make Idea Idol and The Varsity Pitch such a success. There was great press coverage for the event including ITV News, Financial Times and CNN!
Timetable
6pm - Registration opens.
6:15pm - Pitches from the 6 contestants and questioning by the Judges
8:00pm - Drinks and snacks while the Judges decide..
8:40pm - Judges' feedback...and the results!
9:15pm - End
The Judges
Peter Jones - Serial Entrepreneur & Dragon!
Martha Lane Fox - Co-founder, Lastminute.com
Ian Lobley - Senior Partner, 3i Venture Capital
Michael Birch - Co-founder and CEO, Bebo.com
Jim Lawn - Head of Innovation Strategy, Microsoft UK
