The awards recognise young people, aged between 18-30, from across the UK with great business ideas who have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs and future leaders in innovation.
Applications for the awards have increased by 87% year on year. This year there were 64 award winners – double the amount from previous years – with five of these winners from the East of England. These Young Innovators will be working with an Innovate UK EDGE (formerly Enterprise Europe Network) Innovation Growth Specialist from the East of England.
Each award winner receives a £5,000 grant, an allowance to cover living costs and one-to-one business coaching from an Innovate UK EDGE Innovation Growth specialist. As part of our delivery of Innovate UK EDGE in the East of England, our specialists will help each award winner create a tailored action plan, provide networking opportunities, assist with financial planning, and provide guidance on how to make their products, service offer or programme more innovative. The support from Innovate UK EDGE will help these young innovators to exploit their innovations, grow their businesses to meet future demands and ultimately contribute towards UK economic growth.
The award winners in the East of England are:
Rhiannon Jeffreys – Starling Music Academy
Starling Music Academy is an online tutoring service to help students pass music theory exams.
Folu Ogunyeye – Vamos Careers
Vamos is a student-led platform that leverages technology to boost social mobility in the transition from university to employment.
Penelope Roberts – RoboNurse
RoboNurse aims to provide socially aware robotic companions for people at home or in hospitals and care, reducing cost and the demand on current NHS Services.
Lucy Watts – Lived Experience Learning
Lucy is developing an e-learning platform that will utilize people’s lived experience of illness, disability and care to help others navigate the system, including preparing for applications, assessments and reviews.
Ellis Parry – Neumind
Neumind are developing an app that empowers individuals with neurological conditions or injuries to live a more functional and independent life.
Innovate UK EDGE Innovation Growth Specialists Aymen Roshan and Jodie Wilson will be supporting the five award winners in the East of England. Aymen commented “working with young entrepreneurs is more important than ever. We’re looking forward to supporting this group of Young Innovators to help them grow and scale their innovations and help tackle some of the most important challenges our society faces.”
Alongside St John’s Innovation Centre, we deliver Innovate UK EDGE in the East of England, on behalf of Innovate UK. We enable the most ambitious businesses to accelerate their growth and achieve scale. Find out more about Innovate UK EDGE.