The New Enterprise Competition (NEC) drew to a thrilling conclusion at the Engine Shed last night. The award ceremony brought out the best and brightest of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The NEC is the Careers Service’s flagship start-up competition. Run by the Basecamp Enterprise Team, students, graduates, and staff, with support from mentors and experts, transform their business ideas into business realities. The final stage of the competition, the GROWTH stage, sees participants battle it out in pitches to a panel of experts for a chance to win a share of £25,000 of funding!

(Pictured from left to right are: Shabaj Ahmed (Progressable), Rachel Keys (Heartly), Ajeet Bhambra (Foundercentre), Artemis Fragkopoulos (SLANT), Deeshen Shah (Lettus Digest), Louisa Billington (Accomodeep), Weronika Stelmach (Weaving Change), Isobel Turner (Attic Catalogues), and Vasudev Menon (Invaai)).

We are thrilled to announce our overall winner, SLANT, winning £15,000 plus 12 months of incubation at SETSquared. They also won a £3,000 bonus prize from competition sponsor, Engineers in Business.

SLANT is building electric trolleys – called ‘e-carriages’ – to help shoppers get their groceries home. They want to reduce the 4.5 billion car journeys made to the shops in England each year and help those who do not drive to get their shopping home easily and sustainably.

The New Enterprise Competition Winner, Artemis, posing in victory.

SLANT co-founder, Artemis Fragkopoulos said:

“It is amazing. We’ll use this to develop a minimal marketable product, to get pre-orders and start generating revenue”.

Meet our other winners:

Weronika Stelmach (Weaving Change) won £7,500 and a six-month membership at SETsquared Bristol for her fashion app Swerv, which aims to connect people with their wardrobes through an app that lets you digitise your clothes, and try them on your own customisable avatar.

Louisa Billington (Accomodeep) won £2,500 for her start-up, Accommodeep, which is developing the first wearable deep-pressure device that is suitable for people with breasts.

Deeshen Shah (Lettus Digest) also snagged £1,500 for winning the People’s Choice Award, receiving the most votes in an extremely close public campaign.

The four winners of the NEC, from left to right, Weronika Stelmach, Artemis Fragkopoulos, Louisa Billington, and Deeshen Shah.

This year, the NEC has supported 92 start-ups (students, graduates, and staff) through the three stages of the competition.

These have been hugely varied, from live-action horror experiences and educational board games to virtual assistants and personalised pet care.

Kim Brook, the Director of SETsquared Bristol, said: “The New Enterprise Competition has in its 24-year history spotted some amazing entrepreneurial talent including Ultraleap (then Ultrahaptics), iCOMAT, Lettus Grow and Peequal.

We’re delighted this year to offer incubation support to SLANT and Weaving Change and look forward to working with the founders to take their business ideas to the next level.”

Another massive congratulations to everyone who has taken part in the New Enterprise Competition this year and the biggest thank you to all of our mentors, sponsors, and friends.

The NEC will kick off again in the Autumn term with the IDEATION stage. Find out more on the NEC webpage and contact basecamp@bristol.ac.uk for all things enterprise.