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RBS EnterprisingU winners revealed

Image by Windell Oskay

The winners of the year-long student and graduate entrepreneur competition, RBS EnterprisingU, have been announced.

Venture capital firm, Find Invest Grow (FIG), Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), and LinkedIn, collaborated on the competition, which saw 1,317 entrants.

The judging panel included business luminaries such as Dylan Williams of Coutts; Peter Ibbetson, RBS Small Business Chairman; Peter Murphy, founding Director of Camelot; and Rupert Turnbull, publisher of Wired.

Students and graduates of the past five years were invited to pitch their idea in ten minutes, as well as answer probing questions from the panel, in front of an audience of around 150 early stage investors and press.

Top prize went to SalesGossip, an online service that alerts people immediately when a new sale is announced.

Co-founded Elizabetta Camilleri, picked up the £25,000 prize, and said: “We’re proud to have won, especially considering the very high calibre of the other start-ups shortlisted.

“We are thrilled with the endorsement of our hard work to date and the prize will help us make the online and mobile service even better. Of course, we would love to spend the money shopping for shoes in the summer sales but alas we’ve got bigger and better plans and will spend it on building more functionality into the current online and mobile service, so watch this space.”

Second place went to Ventive, a company that plans to produce a Passive Heat Recovery Ventilation Unit, and third place was secured by Windows Phone Geek, a marketplace for Windows Phone app developers.

Entrants used FIG’s online business plan tool to make their submissions, and the judging criteria was focused on discovering future success stories.

James King, Co-Founder and MD of FIG said: “The competition was incredibly well received. It is phenomenal to see so many students and recent graduates inspired to start their own businesses.

“The six companies at the final represented various states of proof of concept and development and it has been exciting to see how they’ve grown since they first entered the competition to where they are today.

“While SalesGossip thoroughly deserved to win, all of the finalists have great potential and we will continue to support them all going forward.”

In addition, Peter Ibbetson, Small Business Chairman, NatWest and RBS, said: “This competition proves we have the fresh new talent Britain needs to bring business ideas to life. It was inspiring to witness such innovative ideas from students and recent graduates - after all, they will be our business leaders of the future.”

Peter Molyneux, the video game designer and serial entrepreneur gave a keynote address at the awards, and said: “I love events like these that celebrate good ideas. I just wish that they existed when I started out because - as an entrepreneur - it’s a very tough world.

“As an entrepreneur you’ve got to have unbelievable drive and incredible courage - and a doggedness to pick yourself up and carry on. All six finalists should be congratulated. Looking through these ideas, there’s a real energy and passion to everyone.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .