It is fabulous to see award-winning start-ups from King’s win recognition from the Mayor of London’s office. I know that they will enjoy competing against and meeting their innovative peers from other universities to compare ideas. Good luck and best wishes to Sifan, Aysha, Thomas, Manuel and Josephine.
Julie Devonshire, Director of the King’s Entrepreneurship Institute
24 June 2020
Five King's students reach semi-finals of Mayor's Entrepreneur competition
Some of our best and brightest make it to the semi finals of the annual entrepreneur competition.
The Mayor’s Entrepreneur competition is aimed at selecting the best and brightest student business ideas to help deliver good growth for London, and supports the city become cleaner, greener and ready for the future, and, to ensure students get the skills they need to succeed in a fair, inclusive society and thriving economy.
Applicants apply to one of four awards: the Environment Award (for innovations to reduce carbon emissions and improve the environment in London), the Smart Cities Award (technological innovations to make London a better place to live and work), the Creative Industries Award (innovations to make the creative industries across London more sustainable) and the Health Award (innovations that improve physical and/or mental health for Londoners, reduce waste and make the health sector more sustainable).
Out of 120 semi-finalists selected, five are from King’s College London and have all been highly engaged with the Entrepreneurship Institute’s idea competition, Idea Factory, and the King’s20 Accelerator:
- Thomas Valderrama (BA - Liberal Arts), co-founder of Loma (Idea Factory 2019 finalist)
A smart shopping assistant that scans the web for a secondhand or rental alternative to what you're looking for. Users can cut through the faff, save money and lower their environmental impact. - Manuel Martinez Chamorro (BSc Computer Science with Management), Privasee (2019-20 King’s20 Accelerator)
A big data privacy platform that allows users to securely store, share and control who can access their data. - Josephine Philips (Physics and Philosophy) founder of Sojo (Idea Factory 2019 winner)
‘Deliveroo’ but for clothing alterations & repairs - Sifan Zheng (Medicine MBBS), co-founder of Eczamine (Idea Factory 2019 winner)
A support app for patients with eczema. Our app will use user input of photos and symptoms to track and predict (using machine learning models) a patient’s condition and their next flare-up. - Aysha Ingar (Medicine MBBS) founder of Muslimah (2019-20 King’s20 Accelerator)
An app designed as a platform with practical features to help address difficulties the average Muslim woman face with regards to practising their faith; with features such as a prayer space locator, Islamic menstrual cycle tracker and a modest wear directory.
The semi-finalists will now go onto to submit a video pitch to be judged by expert panels and the finalists (5 from each Award Category) will be chosen by the end of July.