Business Plan Competition winners announced
20 Mar 2008
A business idea to provide a health care comparison service won the first ever Graduate Business Plan Competition. Organised by King’s College London Business and the King’s Graduate School, the finals and an Awards Dinner were held on 18 March.
The £5,000 prize for the best business idea was awarded to Frances Willey, a PhD student in the Division of Reproduction and Endocrinology in the Department of Women’s Health at St Thomas’ Campus, and Tuan Nguyen-Phuong, who is studying MSc Mental Health Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry.
Their winning business idea ‘Comparing Care.com’ centres on creating a company to provide health care comparison services and includes a website that allows users to compare care packages for health, elderly and dental care on a variety of criteria.
Tuan and Frances said: ‘We are delighted to win the Business Plan Competition. We feel that our business idea offers a service in an area where there is an unmet need and therefore market opportunity, the choice and selection of care provider. This initial funding will help us to develop and commercialise our idea.’
Following a pitch by each of the teams in the final, the Business Plan Competition was judged by a panel made up of experts who together have several years experience of setting up businesses and enterprise education: Ken Charman, CEO, Simulstrat Ltd; Dr Fiona Denney, Head of Graduate Development at King’s Graduate School; James Kelly, Partner, Rawlinson and Hunter (Chartered Accountants) and Dr Mike Shaw, Director of Technology Transfer at King’s College London Business.
Market opportunity
Dr Shaw, who chaired the judging panel, commented ‘The standard of all of the business ideas and entering teams was very high with all the teams producing very creative business ideas and business plans. The judging panel felt that the winning idea demonstrated that they had identified the market opportunity and had a credible business plan, also demonstrating that they could pitch their business idea to a panel of investors with great flair.’
Fiona Denney, Head of Graduate Skills at King’s Graduate School, added: ‘We are very pleased that the competition attracted a good deal of interest from across the College including a significant number of international students. It was good to see that business ideas were put forward in a range of sectors including Cultural and Creative Industries, Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Products. All of the participants have benefited from participating by developing venturing, commercial and business skills that will enhance their future careers. King’s Graduate School is very interested in ensuring that initiatives like this receive support and continue in the future.’
Other teams who took part in the final were:
Gate - an art agency and consultant company trading Chinese Contemporary Art to London, providing artists with platforms to showcase their art and possibilities of reaching high margin sales in the West and providing services for well-reputed Chinese artists seeking for opportunities at an international level.
Team: Lin Chu, Qirong Li & Fabian Lang who are all studying MA Cultural & Creative Industries
Earth – A Deli, Shop & Bar who say that “Life is too short to drink bad wine!”
Team: Dr Nick Silver and Dr Ngoc Thanh Thuy Do, both postdoctoral research associates in the Dental Institute.
EaZyRescue Ltd - Mini-survival-kits for everyday use in a practical and trendy design, tailored for different target groups (women, men, traveller etc.) and niche markets.
Team: Egle Dagilyte and Zoya Shah, both PhD students in the School of Law
UniLab Ltd - a professional open source business model paving the way for software integration in life sciences
Team: Adam Badar and Richard Tavaré who are both PhD students in Imaging Sciences
Notes to editors
King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher 2007) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has 19,300 students from more than 130 countries, and 5,000 employees. King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an annual income of approximately £400 million. An investment of £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.
King’s College London Business Ltd
King’s College London Business is the wholly-owned subsidiary company of King’s College London, responsible for the commercial development of research and innovation at King’s. Responsive to the needs of business and industry, the King’s Business team leads the licensing of new technologies, supports creations of new business ventures, engages consultancy services and develops new business partnerships. King’s Business promotes knowledge creation with the College across a variety of sectors including industry, commerce, the public sector and creative and cultural organisations. www.kcl.ac.uk/business
Further information
Harriet Robinson
Business Development Manager - Enterprise and Employability
King’s College London Business Ltd
Tel: +44(0)20 7848 3196
Email:
harriet.robinson@kcl.ac.uk