Abstract
It’s impossible to read news nowadays without hearing a story about a successful young entrepreneur. The myth that young and inexperienced persons couldn’t start a sustainable business got thrown out the window once companies like Facebook, Mozilla, Youtube, Runescape, etc. popped up. Nevertheless, young entrepreneurs still have to face tough challenges in the present socio-economic scenario. Raising money, finding partners and creating legitimacy are challenging activities when you are a young and inexperienced team. In this session, we give the floor to young successful UK based entrepreneurs and let them explain how they overcome these difficulties and manage to become successful. The Imperial College start-up network presents how they stimulate and facilitate the creation of student (under- or postgrad) ventures at Imperial College London.
Biography
Mark Hammond, Imperial Innovations, IC Start Up, London
Mark manages the commercialisation of software at Imperial Innovations. He founded the Imperial Digital Enterprise Accelerator (now part of ICStartup+) and has played a key role in leading the development of the ICStartup framework. After completing a combined Masters in Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence he went on to obtain a PhD in which he implemented a biological neuronal control system in a robot. Mark’s commercial background includes setting up an IT service business unit and an analyst role at a boutique investment bank in which he worked with IT and cleantech start-ups to develop their commercial and fundraising strategy.
Alexander Schey, CEO and Co – founder Vantage Power Limited
Alex Schey studied mechanical engineering at Imperial College London, came up with an idea to change the way the world thought about electric vehicles, and to do something to stimulate the lackluster appeal of science and technology in children’s’ education. In 2009, Alex founded the Racing Green project to do just that, built up a team of highly talented engineers to complete this ambitious challenge, and raised £700,000 of corporate sponsorship. After completing the project, Alex founded Vantage Power with Racing Green team member Toby Schulz in January 2011. Vantage Power is developing a revolutionary hybrid drivetrain designed to retrofit existing double-decker buses, thereby reducing fuel consumption by 40%, or £20,000 per year per bus.
Kirsty Henshaw, Director, Worthenshaws Limited
Healthy food producer Kirsty Henshaw secured a £65,000 investment from Dragons, Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne, in return for a 30% stake in her company Worthenshaws. An inspirational, confident `can-do` young woman, Kirsty is passionate about nutrition, she enjoys educating people about why healthy diets are essential for everyon. Now supplying her healthy meals range on a larger scale Kirsty emphasises the importance of building great relationships with the people around you. Kirsty is very focused on building the Kirsty’s brand and is consolidating her position as one of the most inspirational young businesswomen in the country.
Jeroen Seghers, Director Techtopia Limited
Jeroen obtained his Bachelor Degree in Computer Science with a distinction from Hogeschool Gent, specializing in software engineering, and became the youngest executive to be admitted to a Master Class (Entrepreneurship and Innovation) at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. Growing up around artistic people shaped his feeling for aesthetics, which evolved through the branding and marketing work he did on various projects. From the age of 15, Jeroen has founded several companies which released various products reaching over 100 million users across the globe. Jeroen was involved with the product development and marketing of Zugo, StartNow.com, iPhox, Wyzo and a major file sharing client. Jeroen is currently based in London and serves as a Director of Techtopia and Chairman of FaceIt. Jeroen is also a seed-stage investor and sits on the board of several startups around the globe.