Students put entrepreneurship skills to the test during Start-up Marathon

Students from a variety of courses took part in the fast-paced event

Run by the Centre for Business and Industry Transformation (CBIT) at Nottingham Business School, the event saw 20 students from a range of courses, such as Business, Mechanical Engineering and Physics, come up with start-up ideas, create a prototype and pitch the product in just six hours.

Four teams worked on ideas related to sustainability, artificial intelligence, security and art and culture. They were asked to address one problem that needs to be solved in the theme they had chosen and identify a high impact but low-cost solution. The groups then created a lean canvas (one-page) business overview and drew out a simple prototype for their product.

They presented their ideas to a panel including Professor Xiao Ma, director of CBIT; Georgi Iliev, head of the Venture Builder at CBIT; and Will Chew, senior enterprise officer at NTU’s Dryden Enterprise Centre.

The winning group took away a cash prize for their modern social network platform – The Social Line – designed to help students build a network of friends with similar passion and interests. The idea was based on a problem they experience themselves, and their pitch was commended for creating an emotional connection with their audience.

Other ideas from the marathon included a sustainable building cooling system which creates more green, sustainable spaces rather than relying on air conditioning, and a smart helmet for micro-mobility riders which increases safety through by using AI to feed the rider with real-time knowledge. The security group worked with IoT workforce and security management business, Acatek, to identify a new go-to-market strategy for their access to control products.

Mohamed Abbas, business community and engagement officer at CBIT, said: “We wanted the students to step into the shoes of a start-up founder and experience the challenges and rewards of developing a prototype for your business idea in a short period of time rather than planning for too long, the startup experience is mainly about building products or service, measure the result with your customers, and learn from this to improve your offering.

“Through collaboration and intense focus, the students showcased what can be achieved when bright minds come together under pressure. The results were nothing short of amazing – a testament to the potential and agility of young entrepreneurs.”

Hanna Kuchanska, MSc Finance student, was part of the winning team. She said “This event has helped me look at various areas of our lives from different angles, as teams came up with interesting solutions for existing problems. It was challenging because of limited time, but the whole experience was really beneficial.”

BSc Mechanical Engineering student, Rakshith Bangalore Kumaraswamy, said: “The Start-up Marathon was an eye-opening experience. This guided sprint supported me in better understanding the idea generation process as well as how to pitch ideas to panellists.”

Ollie Hamilton, studying BSc Business Management and Marketing, added: “The Start-up Marathon was an intensive, practical day that consisted of multiple aspects of starting a business. The day was extremely effective in helping us to get out of the initial stalling stage that new entrepreneurs tend to face and to take a business idea to action over six short hours of working.”

CBIT has a proven history in business transformation and brings together research, disruptive business practice, and personalised education. Its established and reputable Venture Builder supports innovative and sustainable start-ups to achieve sustainable growth.

As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Centre also hosted a Tech X Business: Building Ventures with the latest AI Innovations Meetup for 50 businesses, start-ups, students and NTU staff. The event discussed the role of AI in start-up life, especially in product design and product development. An expert panel included Georgi Iliev, head of Venture Builder and product development manager at CBIT; Yash Sonawane, technology lead at Dock-y start-up; and Professor Amin Al-Habaibeh, Professor of Intelligent Engineering Systems at NTU.