Focks Socks – Ideas Stage, New Enterprise Competition winner 2017-18

Basecamp Enterprise Team caught up with winner of Ideas Stage, New Enterprise Competition and Bristol University alumni Ash Guest. Ash founded the start-up business Focks Socks and has continued to develop her start-up since its
beginnings in 2017. Here’s what Ash had
to say about her start-up journey:

Who are you?
 

My name is Ash and I’ve just started a Masters in Human Rights Law, after completing my undergrad in law at UoB a couple of years ago.  (more…)

Actuation Lab – Growth Stage New Enterprise Competition finalists 2018

Basecamp Enterprise Team caught up with Growth Stage, New Enterprise Competition finalist Dr Michael Dicker from start-up Actuation Lab to talk about their progress since winning 12 month SETsquared membership from the competition. Here’s what Michael had to say: 

Actuation Lab is now 4 months into its year long membership of the SETsquared Bristol incubator that it won as runner-up in the New Enterprise Competition. We have developed greatly as a business over that time and continue to refine our technology and market focus. We recently received a place on the Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) InnovateUK program which is providing us with funding and the ability to further explore market opportunities.  (more…)

Have an idea? 3 reasons why you should apply for the New Enterprise Competition

It’s an exciting time for the Basecamp Enterprise Team as we reopen the New Enterprise Competition this September!  But why should you apply?

1.) It caters for all stages of your start-up journey

The competition caters for all levels of start-up stages: ‘Ideas,’ ‘Development’ and ‘Growth.’ Funding is available at all stages, and there is pro bono support available from our sponsors in the Growth stage of the competition. You can apply to any and all stages of the competition and do not need to complete them in order (more information below). To read about some of our start-up stories from previous winners of the competition, click here.

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What it’s like to be an entrepreneur

Each year the Careers Service can give up to £40,000 in funding to University of Bristol student and staff business ideas through the New Enterprise Competition (NEC) and Enternship Scheme. Some of our previous successful candidates have share their stories here.

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Interested in working for yourself this summer?

Each summer the Basecamp team provides aspiring entrepreneurs with grant funding and support to maximise their potential. You can benefit from funding of up to £1,000 to support your work during 8 weeks of the summer, as well as a business mentor and hot desking space. Applications are open between 5 and 26 April 2019. (more…)

I have an idea – could it turn into a business?

I have an idea but is it really possible to turn it into a business?

Many of you may have ideas of how to solve problems, make money or change the world for the better – but knowing how to turn those ideas into action can be the biggest barrier for many students. Rest assured it is possible and we are here to support you along the way.

So how can the Careers Service help? (more…)

How are PLUS students engaging with the Bristol Futures open online courses?

Bristol Futures open online courses are now an essential element of the Bristol PLUS Award. With their broad range of topics and interactive learning style, it’s hardly surprising that they are receiving great reviews – but who is doing what, and which might you do?

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Winning the Object Challenge- creative use of a split pin

By Jojo Dance and Hazel Welsh  

The Object Challenge was run at the Engineering&IT fair by the Basecamp team who help students improve their enterprise and entrepreneurial skills. Students were given one week to come up with a creative idea to add value to a split pin (traditionally used to hold paper together) and upload a 90 second video of their idea to YouTube.  

 Trying to come up with an idea that would give value to a split pin was a challenge. All our initial ideas were very obvious and weren’t creative enough to stand out. We struggled for some time trying to come up with a way to use/manipulate the item and then potentially ‘sell’ the item in the short video. But we found these ideas very limiting. So, we decided to try and think outside of the box to come up with a winning idea. After some thought, we realised that the presentation would be taking place on Halloween, so we decided to go with a Halloween themed object. This way we could have some fun with the concept, whilst also giving the split pin some added spiritual value. 

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Are You Set For Summer? Take our Careers Quiz

June 4th sees the launch of Before You Go Week, an intensive week of events, talks and individual appointments to help you make the most of the summer months – whether you are graduating, or coming back to the University in September.

We’d love to support as many of you as possible. Take our quiz to find out if you could benefit from coming in to see us before you go!

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Featured Q&A article with Bristol Entrepreneurs’ Society president, Joshua Greenidge.

Value Penguin, a price comparison website, approached the Enterprise team to find a great student representative of enterprise activity at UoB to do a Q&A interview with them. Joshua Greenidge, president of the Bristol Entrepreneurs’ Society (BES) seemed like the perfect person for the job and this featured article does him enormous credit.

Joshua Greenidge is studying Anthropology with Innovation and expects to graduate in 2020. Joshua first entered the University of Bristol in 2016 through the Foundation Year in the Arts & Humanities, a one-year program that is designed to enable a diverse group of students to enter university who may not have a traditional student profile.

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