Change our City Challenge pushed me to think beyond my usual boundaries. I really enjoyed how collaborative the event was - everyone came from different backgrounds yet we worked together to build something meaningful. The mentors were encouraging and the workshops inspiring.
Anonymous, Change our City Challenge 2025 Participant
22 October 2025
Student teams innovate new ideas at Change our City Challenge 2025
38 students from across King's collaborate in diverse teams to solve some of London's biggest problems.
In October, Change our City Challenge returned for the third year running, organised by King's Entrepreneurship Institute. The event saw students from a range of subject areas and year groups come together to develop innovative solutions in less than 24 hours.
Depending on their area of interest, students were asked to choose from one of five challenges based on real-life problem areas in London: Community, Hunger, Homelessness, Environment, or Health.
The day consisted of workshops led by industry experts, mentoring from founders on the King's Start-up Accelerator, and pitching to an expert judging panel before the 2025 winners were announced.
Expert-led workshops
Throughout the day, participants were provided with three workshops to guide them through building their ideas and creating a pitch deck. Workshops included:
Mentoring support
Teams also had mentoring time with founders from the King's Start-up Accelerator, who provided further advice and support through varying expertise:
- Ria Walia, CEO & Founder of Tulah, King's Alumna (BS Mathematics with Finance & Management)
- Saifeddine Benamar, Founder of TrueGreen, King's Alumnus (LLB Law)
- Aamir Faaiz, Co-founder of Tekniti.AI, King's Alumnus (BEng Electronic & Information Engineering)
- Pierrette Hebga Meinrad, Founder of SenaForma, King's Alumna (German with English Literature)
- Josh Robinson, Founder & CEO of London Student Network, King's Alumnus (BA War Studies & History)
Judging panel
The challenge ended with a pitch event, where each team presented their solution to a judging panel featuring experts aligned to the challenge themes:
- Kevin Fay, Venture Programme Manager at Venture Studio from Crisis
- Dave Franklin, Founder of Overstory Partners and Visiting Fellow at Sustainable Ventures
- Jessie McCulloch, Programme Director at King's Health Partners
Winning teams
Three winners were selected based on how well the idea met the judging criteria and how well teams were able to effectively communicate the problem, solution, next steps and potential impact.
Congratulations to:
1. Freedge
An app to tackle food waste among students by scanning products as they're unloaded into the fridge to keep track of expiry dates.
- HeYa, PG Year 1, MSc ESG Management, King's Business School
- Holly, PG Year 1, MSc in Law & Professional Practice, The Dickson Poon School of Law
- Danielle, Year 2, BA Social Science, Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy
- Tejas, Year 2, BSc Computer Science, Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences
2. Biospaces
An outdoor space that encourages biodiversity and provides sustainable outdoor heating.
- Dev, Year 1, LLB Law, The Dickson Poon School of Law
- Ved, Year 2, BSc Computer Science, Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences
- India, Year 1, Biomedical Science, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine
3. Project Ekis
Connecting university students looking for work experience with leisure centres to run sport programmes for children in deprived areas.
- Esther, Year 4, MBBS Medicine, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine
- Juana, PG Year 1, MSc Public Health, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine
- Arwa, PG Year 1, MA Digital Culture and Society, Faculty of Arts & Humanities
The event provided me with valuable skills that I plan to apply in my future career, including collaborating effectively with individuals from various backgrounds, presenting ideas clearly, embracing feedback constructively and managing tight deadlines.
Anonymous, Change our City Challenge 2025 Participant
