Who's in the running to win the 2019 Great British Entrepreneur Challenge? This year's finalists revealed
The Great British Entrepreneur Challenge has been bigger and better than ever in 2019 and after a flood of entries, we are proud to announce the shortlist of start-ups who've made the final.
As ever, our goal was simple - to scour the country for great start-ups and early-stage firms and to find passionate entrepreneurs who want to disrupt and change their market for the better, and change their lives at the same time.
The Great British Entrepreneurial Challenge offers start-up bosses the chance to win mentoring and support from Andy Yates and his network - and up to £50,000 of seed funding
These entrepreneurs will be given the chance to win expert advice, mentoring and support from me, Andy Yates, and my network - and the chance to bid for up to £50,000 of seed funding.
All of the shortlisted candidates below have a great potential to grow and flourish, and engender the spirit of entrepreneurship that can blossom even in difficult political and economic times.
We will shortly announce the final winners of The Great British Entrepreneurial Challenge from the shortlist below - but in the meantime we wanted to congratulate all of the entrepreneurs listed below and thank everybody who entered.
It is entrepreneurs like you that can make, and will make, a difference.
The Great British Entrepreneur Challenge 2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Data Cubed
Helen Tanner is the founder of Data Cubed
The idea: Transforming businesses by harnessing the power of their data. Data Cubed already runs a successful data lab in Bristol, helping everybody from large businesses like AXA and Barclays to start-ups.
Now it is on a mission to help British businesses grow. The first goal - to transform the embattled financial adviser industry – because better data means a better service to customers.
The entrepreneur: Helen Tanner describes herself as a mid-life entrepreneur. She took the plunge to set up a start-up after two decades in corporate life that gave her a wealth of experience in how great data can make great businesses.
Domeble
The idea: The way cars are sold is changing rapidly. Imagine going for a test drive in any car, anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home or a car showroom.
Domeble already provides high quality 360-degree computer images and backgrounds for Nissan, Mercedes, GM, Audi, BMW, Tesla and Jaguar LandRover to name a few.
Now it is building a complete library of virtual reality worlds that put you in the driving seat from any car.
Domeble, founded by Carl Lyttle, offers a library of virtual reality worlds that put you in the driving seat of any car
The entrepreneur: Belfast born Carl Lyttle is an award winning photographer, who has taken photos of everything and everyone from music legends to stunning landscapes before specialising in digital photography and the car industry.
Experience Something Different
The idea: Experience Something Different offers unique experiences and days out in aid of great causes, with profits going to charity.
From training a guide dog to finding out how Oxfam provides emergency response – these are days out with a difference.
Experience Something Different is a new online experience marketplace offering unique experiences and days out in aid of charitable causes
It is backed by the UK’s biggest charities and social enterprises including British Red Cross, WaterAid, Unicef, British Heart Foundation, Guide Dogs and the RSPCA.
The entrepreneur: Having set-up and sold a previous start-up Lewis Jenkins was selected by the consortium of charities to scale the business.
Future Visual
Tim Fleming is the founder of Brighton based Future Visual
The idea: Using virtual reality and augmented reality to revolutionise the way businesses run projects and train teams.
Brighton-based Future Visual has created VisionxR – a platform which allows staff to collaborate in a VR world using any device from anywhere in the world.
VisionxR can be used to do anything from training airport staff and guiding planes to managing global engineering projects.
The entrepreneur: After a successful career directing shows for the likes of Fat Boy Slim, Tim Fleming went on to create his award-winning VR and AR studio, working with everybody from Peugeot to John Lewis.
Homewards
The idea: For millions of young people today, it’s never been harder to become a homeowner, with deposits averaging more than £33,000 - up 71 per cent in the past decade.
Homewards is aiming to solve this problem by launching a service that gives aspiring homeowners cashback on spending.
Homewards offers aspiring homeowners cashback on spending to help them save a deposit
This is then used to boost their Lifetime Isa – a scheme where the Government tops up savings to help you build towards a deposit for a home.
The entrepreneurs: Freddie Altman and Benjamin Milsom met through the start-up programme Entrepreneur First and are passionate about solving the problem of young people struggling to get on the first rung of the housing ladder.
Luxe + Hardy
The idea: Luxe + Hardy is a luxury women’s rest and sleepwear brand.
Clothing offered by Luke + Hardy is made sustainably and ethically
The clothes are made sustainably and ethically and suppliers are fully traceable. The clothes are designed to be help busy people relax after a hard day's work.
The entrepreneur: After five years at Condé Nast Traveller, Sadie Reid launched Hip & Healthy, an online magazine providing readers with wellness tips which inspired her to set-up Luxe and Hardy.
Mental Snapp
The idea: Mental Snapp is a way to actively manage mental health using a private video diary app.
Mental Snapp has secured social investment, grants and awards from Bethnal Green Ventures, The Stelios Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and UnLtd, featured on live BBC and in the Evening Standard and has been mentioned in the Houses of Parliament as an example of positive practice in user-led mental health.
Mental Snapp was founded by Hannah Chamberlain and Tex Dunstan
The entrepreneur: Mental Snapp was the brainchild of founder Hannah Chamberlain who has a 20-year career in mental health and film and passionately believes in the power of telling her story and helping others to do the same.
NAVA
The idea: Matching people with venues around them - using clever technology to give a personalised experience.
The app has attracted over 100,000 users, expanded into five cities across Europe, with a further 10 lined up over the next 12 months.
Tom Charman (far right) is the co-founder and chief executive of London based NAVA
The entrepreneur: London based co-founder and chief executive Tom Charman came up with the idea with his co-founder whilst studying in Munich and exploring the city to uncover amazing food, drink and experiences.
NewsBlocks
The idea: NewsBlocks believes the news industry is in crisis with feeds full of bias, fake news and trash, while at the same time privacy is being eroded.
Its solution is to use machine learning to convert all the world's news articles into verified data, stored on a censorship-resistant network to end fake news.
NewsBlocks, founded by Mark and Mary Devlin, aims to convert all the world’s news into verified data and store it on tamper-proof blockchain
The entrepreneurs: Scotland-based Mark and Mary Devlin founded and published Metropolis, which grew into Japan’s No. 1 English magazine and japantoday.com which is the largest news site about Japan in the world, later selling the business.
Offspring
The idea: Offspring is launching an app that aims to turn your family and friends into a community of savers, helping your children get the things they need in life.
It aims to get people to club together for that birthday present, school trip or perhaps their first car, a university degree, a wedding or their first home.
Offspring is an app that aims to turn your family and friends into a community of savers
The entrepreneur: Former head of proposition and strategy at financial services giant AXA, Avinash Rajan is passionate about changing the children’s savings market and addressing the huge debts children are facing.
Tutti
The idea: Tutti aims to become Airbnb for rehearsal spaces. They enable musicians to book homes, churches, studios, and more for rehearsals, and help hosts make money while filling dormant space with music.
Tutti, founded by Gabriel Isserlis, aims to become Airbnb for rehearsal spaces
The entrepreneur: Gabriel Isserlis describes himself as an amateur musician, with generations of professional music in his blood who wants to help protect creative workspaces by enabling them to generate extra revenues.
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