King's College London

Students and alumni from across King’s delivered 90-second pitches in front of a live audience and judging panel, featuring: Theo Ohene (Founder of Skyamo and the Entrepreneurship Institute’s (EI) Growth Expert-in-Residence), Julie Kouamo (Head of Ventures – maternity cover) and Tanguy Lamy (King’s alumnus and co-founder & CEO of AquaZoo Partners). Tanguy was a previous participant and one of the winners at the first Open Pitch Night, which launched in 2023. 

With no previous experience, prep or slides necessary, pitching slots were allocated at random. Those hoping to pitch were given a raffle ticket. If their name or number was called, they took to the stage to share their idea.

10 £200 prizes were awarded by the judges, who assessed each pitch against three criteria:

1. A clearly defined problem 

2. Founder-market fit 

3. Clear plan for using the prize money towards idea testing

This year a People’s Choice vote was introduced for the first time, with the winner decided by the live audience. All 30 pitchers were invited to attend a post-pitch Validation Station workshop, to gain top tips for taking their ideas further. Many previous pitchers have gone on to apply for Idea Factory and have secured a place in the King’s Start-up Accelerator.

Six out of nine faculties were represented amongst the winners. 

Abyan Memon	Student	General Engineering BSc (Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences)
Anderson Capelão	Student	Banking and Finance MSc (King’s Business School)
Antonia Hill	Student	English Law and German Law LLB (Dickson Poon School of Law)
Danielle Adewusi	Alumni	Medicine MBBS (Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine)
Eduardo Sánchez Morales	Student	Computer Science with Management BSc (Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences)
Eliott Derville	Student	Advanced Computing MSc (Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences)
Ismael Ali	Student	International Development BA (Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy)
Quadri	Student	Biomedical Sciences PhD (Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine)
Selena Lee	Student	Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology MSc (Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience)
Shaheer Safdar	Student	MedTech MSc (King’s Business School)
Yash Yadav	Student	Computer Science BSc (Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences)

Ideas pitched on the night covered solutions to a range of problems, including loneliness, communication, education, healthcare and access to services.

The prize money will enable the winners to test their ideas or develop their skills as an entrepreneur, whether that’s in the form of market research, marketing, building a prototype and more.

The event was hosted by Jenna Dominique, the EI’s Communications Expert-in-Residence. Networking followed the pitches, giving audience members the opportunity to connect and share ideas.

Photos: Nathan Clarke Photography.