Jan
Union Enterprise Fund 2019 Winners Announced
SUSU has awarded student projects Aquassentials, Future Brew and The Charge Project a total of £500 investment, as part of the Enterprise Fund 2019.
The businesses, formed by University of Southampton students, were each awarded prizes from the Enterprise Fund, an initiative to encourage students to develop their innovative events, activities and projects.
Aquassentials, awarded our highest prize of £250 is new start up created by students at the university that is creating a range of small hydroponic products that will be available later in the semester. The Enterprise panel really liked how innovative and sustainable the product is, making use of recycled bean tins to grow plants in only a water-nutrient solution.
Our second winning project came from Future Brew an innovative company seeking to create value in the growing market for craft beers and ales, by producing a beer which includes waste bread as a primary ingredient. Creating value from waste is a process which is central to their ethos, and by creating a socially and environmentally intuitive brand, project lead Dimitris-Marios Stoidis said that Future Brew hopes to use the UK’s drinking culture as a vehicle for driving awareness about climate change, sustainability, and social responsibility. Future Brew plan to launch their first beer in January and were awarded £150 in investment.
The last project to be awarded £150 in funds from SUSU was The Charge Project. This project aims to provide a sustainable solution to the key issue of flooding facing communities in the Gaibandha Char region of Bangladesh. They aim to do this by providing floating photovoltaic and hydropower systems that will allow for flexible and large-scale renewable electricity generation in the community.
Our Vice-President Activities Fiona Sunderland, David Murtagh (Director of Union Services) and Claire M. Pearce, (Service & Sales Manager at HSBC, Southampton City Branch), were present on the Enterprise Fund panel, and chose the winners out of five submitted projects.
Fiona Sunderland said, “This year we had some really strong business ideas apply for the fund this year and choosing between them was tough. We’re really pleased to have supported 3 groups of entrepreneurs and help further their innovative projects. We look forward to seeing the products from them which include a beer brewed from waste bread which will be found in the Stags’ in the near future! Well done to all those that took part and we hope to see even more of your ideas next year!”
Stay tuned for more updates on the businesses in 2020!
Tags: Aquassentials, Future Brew, start-up business, The Charge Project, Union Enterprise Fund