All aboard

King’s Entrepreneurship Institute used this colourful emblem of London to take students on a road trip to the future, stopping to meet start-ups and ventures from across the London tech and innovation sectors along the way.

Venture Bus stops included multinational companies such as Facebook and Accenture’s Innovation Centre, the Royal Academy of Engineering and accelerators Wayra, Geovation and MassChallenge. Students had unique access to enterprise spaces and took part in activities and talks designed to get them to think creatively, be inspired by industry leaders and get feedback about their early stage start-up ideas.

During the tour, students trialled virtual reality, learned about the use of artificial intelligence in business, and heard pitches from some inspiring start-ups, asking them questions and learning from their experience.

Also on board were King’s alumni and cybersecurity expert Mustafa Al-Basam and Razvan Creanga, co-founder of HackaJob, as well as ventures from King’s20 accelerator, the university’s year-long accelerator programme now supporting 20 of King’s brightest start-ups to reach their potential.

Following the 12-hour trip Jeremy Shorter, Learning Programme Manager at the Entrepreneurship Institute, said: ‘The best way to learn about entrepreneurship and innovative thinking is to experience it first-hand; to meet the people who are creating new jobs and coming up with creative ways to meet society’s challenges.

‘King’s has the world’s top innovators right on our doorstep, so we want to take full advantage of that. Our students are the business leaders and innovators of the future. Travelling on the bus gives them the opportunity to interact with each other and exchange ideas as we take them on this unique entrepreneurial journey.’