It’s been inspiring to see such a range of ventures emerge from our pilot round of the King’s Validation Fund. Each team has used the Online Incubator to challenge key assumptions, explore routes to market and develop early-stage test offerings. I look forward to following their validation experiments and seeing the real-world impact they deliver in the months ahead."
Olumide, Entrepreneurial Skills Officer at the Entrepreneurship Institute
01 July 2025
Meet the first ever King's Validation Fund winners
9 winners have been awarded up to £400 in the first round of the King's Validation Fund, run by the Entrepreneurship Institute.
This year, the Entrepreneurship Institute launched King's Validation Fund - an opportunity for King's students and alumni (graduated within the last two years) to apply for funding to test and validate early-stage business ideas. Applications for the Validation Fund will open quarterly.
June saw the fund open for the first ever round of applications. After shortlisting, 9 winners have been awarded up to £400 based on their application. The winners are using the funding for a range of activities, including building prototypes, setting up websites, conducting customer research and covering marketing or platform subscriptions.
Winners will share a short progress update three months after receiving the grant, outlining what they have achieved and how the funding has supported their progress.
The first round of Validation Fund winners are:
|
NurseVision |
HealthTech |
Yangyang Dong (PhD student, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care) |
|
Dermplan App |
HealthTech
|
Dr Fareeha Faisal (Postgraduate student, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine) |
|
The Job Seeker Hub (TJSH) |
EdTech
|
Muriel Tokam (Postgraduate student, King's Business School) |
|
YUÉN |
Wellness
|
Tong Kang (PhD student, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine) |
|
spHlash |
HealthTech
|
Isabella Sandak Lewin (Postgraduate student, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine) |
|
Edupreneur |
EdTech
|
Karen Inomata (Postgraduate student, King's Business School) |
|
DiLi |
SaaS (Software-as-a-service) |
Lina Kramer (PhD student, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine) |
|
Bite-sized MRCP |
EdTech
|
Dr Mrinalini Dey (PhD student, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine) |
|
Built for Her |
FitnessTech
|
Emma Ingham (Undergraduate student, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine) |
The next round of King's Validation Fund will open on 1st July 2025.
If you have a potential idea for a business, you can:
- Apply for the next round of the King's Validation Fund.
- Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be the first to hear about entrepreneurial opportunities like Idea Factory.
- Book an Idea Feedback Session with a member of the Entrepreneurship Institute team to share detail and receive feedback on next steps.
- Join the Women Entrepreneurs Network, a community of King’s students, alumni and staff that supports idea and entrepreneurial skills development for founders identifying as female or non-binary.