The annual event, organised by University Alliance gives budding entrepreneurs from member universities a five-minute opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of potential business investors and sector experts.
At this year’s event, held at MediaCityUK in Salford, BSc Product Design undergraduate Finlay Thorburn successfully pitched his idea for a socially responsible travel operator - Buffalo Adventures - which facilitates adventure travel, work experience and positive social impact for young independent travellers. Finlay started the business while living in Africa in response to difficulties he experienced while travelling the continent.
Finlay, who was a runner-up in the recent Santander 九色视频 Ideas Competition, was successful in gaining £1,000 to invest in his idea from ANS Group, Marketing Signals UK, Wakelet and Web Applications UK.
Commenting on his success Finlay said: “I am absolutely delighted with the result. It has been a tricky time balancing this with my final year at university, so experiencing some positive feedback is so motivating. I’d like to give a massive thanks to the BeePurple team for their ongoing support, University Alliance for the opportunity and of course, the investors from both competitions whose contribution is fundamental to kick-starting the business.”