HRH The Duke of York attends the Entrepreneurship Institute's first Demo Day
The Duke of York, Founder Pitch@Palace, attended the Entrepreneurship Institute’s first Demo Day on Thursday (6 July).
King’s students, staff and alumni from 18 start-up teams had 3 minutes to pitch their venture to a room of top investors and Venture Capitalists.
The event took place at Bush House and the entrepreneurs pitching were different nationalities and with ventures from a range of sectors including med tech, arts & culture, property, education and social enterprise.
Speaking about entrepreneurship HRH said;
“The single most important thing about entrepreneurship is the fact that there are more and more organisations, such as mine [Pitch@Palace], King’s, and others, who are here for your benefit, and are here to help you get yourselves to where you next need to be".
Over the last 12 months the Entrepreneurship Institute has grown to a community of 10,000 students, staff, alumni, national and international contacts, and supported people at King’s to think entrepreneurially, gain news skills and have entrepreneurial experiences. 20 high-potential ventures on the King’s20 accelerator programme have raised over £345,000 investment, £99,000 in scholarships and five have won nationally recognised awards. For this growth the Institute is a finalist in the 2017 National Enterprise Educator Awards.
Director of the Institute, Julie Devonshire OBE said;
“We are honoured to have Prince Andrew, Duke of York support us and our community of entrepreneurs. This was our first Demo Day and an exciting opportunity to showcase the diverse talent of our community. We were delighted to welcome leading investors and venture capitalists including Founders Factory, Smedvig Capital, and London Business Angels. There was a lot of enthusiasm for our entrepreneurs and we expect a lot of fruitful partnerships to form over the coming months."
NOTES TO EDITORS
- The Entrepreneurship Institute is King’s College London’s dedicated entrepreneurship hub. Focusing on the development of leadership, the Institute provides support and opportunities for King’s students, staff and alumni throughout their careers and start-up journeys.
- The King’s20 Accelerator 2016-2017 programme runs from 3 October 2016 – 29 September 2017. Details of the ventures who pitched at Demo Day can be found in the Lookbook https://issuu.com/kingsentrepreneurship/docs/kcl_ei_lookbook_2017_final_version
- Contact Amy Lothian, Communications Manager, Entrepreneurship Institute, King’s College London, Bush House, 30 Aldwych, London WC2B 4PH T 07730551102 E amy.lothian@kcl.ac.uk W www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship-institute