Last week marked Global Entrepreneurship Week - one of the biggest campaigns for entrepreneurs across the country. We had a week full of events going on in our network. We hosted two great events during the week and even unveiled a few surprises!
On Tuesday we presented Startup Career Launchpad (SCLP), where over 120 students from colleges and universities gathered at BL-NK, Shoreditch. The event connected determined students seeking a way into the industry with exciting startups looking for the best talent. There were plenty of networking opportunities and talks from some of the most exciting companies.
Kris Hallenga, Coppafeel! founder kicked off the day delivering her amazing story of how she turned her sickness into a cause for one of the UK’s biggest breast cancer charities for youth.
Speaking about Coppafeel!, Kris Hallenga said: “The vision was to ensure that every young person is checking themselves. We are a young people’s charity ran by young people. We wanted to focus on awareness only. We want to educate not scare and also be a challenger brand.”
During Startup Career Launchpad there were also a selection of workshops from a CV clinic, to coaching on how to reach your goals and even a personal PR workshop. Kristianah Fasunloye, PR specialist/guru from Astraea PR was one of the exhibitors on the day. She provided her view of SCLP, she said: “For us NACUE’s Startup Career Launchpad is a great opportunity for young people at different stages in their career to have a better understanding of what avenues are open and available to them.”
“Our workshop is about giving and helping the people understand what their key skills are so they’re not going after companies or customers that aren’t going to pay dividends for them. It’s about helping them to thrive and flourish.”
Friday saw us take-over Google Campus for our 5th annual Varsity Pitch Grand Final which saw Wyre win our top prize of £10,000. The afternoon was compared by: Yogesh Chauhan, Director Corporate Sustainability from TATA Consultancy Services, Julien Callede, Founder of MADE.com, Stephanie O’Reilly, Womenswear PR Manager at ASOS and 2013 Varsity Pitch winner Phillip Ellis from Blaze.
Our seven finalists took to the stage to pitch their businesses.The strong competition was demonstrated through the quality of pitches.
Speaking about the quality of finalists, Johnny Luk, NACUE CEO said: “I think it’s fair to say we saw some pretty amazing pitches. [These businesses are] literally saving lives. It’s so inspiring. Everyone should be really proud of themselves.”
All of our 2014 Varsity Pitch finalists were put through their paces as they showcased their businesses to our brilliant partners, TATA Europe and their esteemed guests at their reception at the Science Museum. They were also offered one-to-one mentoring at our boot camp. We found that 86% of Varsity Pitch Bootcamp attendees stated that they feel confident or very confident to grow their business after Varsity Pitch Bootcamp. We also found that 71% of Varsity Pitch Bootcamp attendees noticed an improvement in their financial literacy skills after Varsity Pitch Bootcamp.
This year there were plenty of events within our network, as they too celebrated the week - connecting students and graduates with startups and plenty of enterprise opportunities. Member institution Westminster Kingsway put on an amazing Enterprise Fair.
Our biggest highlight for GEW had to be revealing our two surprises - launching our redesigned online community - the Wall - and our amazing Ignition Fund!!! You could be in for a chance of winning £5000 for your business. We’re inviting you to join us online and connect with other enterprising students.
We hope to bring in 2015 with a bang with our Student Enterprise Conference!
Follow us on Twitter @NACUE to keep up-to-date with the latest.
