IMPACT REPORT 2022-2023
VISION DRIVE CHANGE THROUGH ENCOURAGING ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT ACROSS ITS COMMUNITIES Supporting students, graduates, staff and friends of Loughborough University to develop enterprise and entrepreneurial skills to start, scale and grow new businesses through the network. With support from alumni, partners and champions, we aim to enhance the student experience and outcomes, generate new innovations, businesses, value and growth, and build on the reputation of the University globally. This report highlights LEN’s achievements across the 2022-23 academic year. Through the following pages, we recognise and celebrate individual and team successes, share reflections from our founders, identify exciting new businesses aligned to our strategic themes and set our ambitions for the coming year. We hope you enjoy the read!
HEADLINES
184
250
APPLIED FOR FUNDING
1466
STUDENTS INVOLVED IN SUSTAINABLE FASHION
£82k+
FUNDING PROVIDED TO FOUNDERS
OF STUDENTS ENGAGED IN LEN ACTIVITIES (APPROX 10%)
£1.6m
RAISED BY STUDENT AND GRADUATE START-UPS
CREATING BETTER FUTURES. TOGETHER UNIVERSITY STRATEGY 2030 The University Strategy 2030, launched in 2022, set out a bold and ambitious approach to guide the University over the next decade. LEN responded by launching four Communities in Autumn 2022, to raise greater awareness of the support available to enterprising and entrepreneurial students and staff. To enable us to offer opportunities for people to be more creative, imaginative and innovative, we provide resources, coaching and guidance from dedicated staff and sector experts, to a wide array of courses, programmes and workspaces bringing together a community that spans from students as they arrive at Loughborough to staff, graduates and local to global businesses. As a result, our founders have made a positive impact across all three of the strategic themes set out in the University strategy.
Sport, health and wellbeing
Climate change and net zero
Vibrant and inclusive communities
IMPROVING LIVES ZAK MARKS
Sport, health and wellbeing
We will use world-leading research and innovation in sport and exercise to deliver benefits to the world of sport and improvements to public health.
KITT MEDICAL A defibrillator for allergies’ Kitt Medical has designed an Anaphylaxis Kitt subscription service providing schools with emergency adrenaline pens. The emergency anaphylaxis treatment kit and medical training and incident reporting service are aimed at making adrenaline treatment more accessible in public spaces and reducing the fear and risk of fatalities due to allergies. Kitt Medical is recipient of the London Mayor’s Entrepreneur Award, Santander X Launch Award and The Conduit’s Young Innovator Award.
SAVING LIVES JAMES ROBERTS
MOM INCUBATOR A MedTech startup on a mission to accelerate access to high-quality healthcare, the mOm Incubator is a collapsible, cost-effective, and lightweight neonatal incubator. It offers a safe, medical-grade thermoregulated environment for newborns. It’s built to work in challenging environments and provides a stable heated environment even if access to electricity is unreliable thanks to a built-in battery. Designed, developed and manufactured in Britain the units have helped babies thrive in NHS hospitals and across war-torn Ukraine. James is the recipient of The Princess Royal Silver Medal, one of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s most prestigious individual awards. IMPACT • 1,500 babies lives saved • 100 orders from Ukraine
IMPACT • 1,000+ UK staff trained • Kits in 100+ UK schools
SUPPORTING WELLBEING ED GIBBINS
REWIRE FITNESS Rewire Fitness is a mental fitness platform that helps athletes reach their full potential and avoid burnout by providing tools that improve mindset, readiness and resilience. The Under Armour supported start-up applies patented technology integrating protocols used by the Navy SEALs, NASA and neuroscience. Rewire has participated in Techstars programme, won Leicestershire’s Innovation in Sport, Wellbeing and Accessibility Award 2022 and was nominated for 2023 British Data Awards Start-up of the Year. IMPACT • 70% reduction in stress • 30% increase in focus • 30% increase in readiness
TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change and net zero
We will grow our research and innovation capacity, in areas such as clean energy and the circular economy, to enable the university to play a leading international role in responding to the climate emergency.
REDUCING FOOD WASTE JACOB STRAUS
GUMBO A recipe search engine designed to combat food waste and the cost of living crisis, Gumbo is one of the winners of the Realising the Remarkable programme in partnership with Vista and Enterprise Nation and was recently awarded funding through Innovate UK’s Creative Growth programme. IMPACT • 700k users • 600k indexed recipes • 30% reduction in food waste
THOMAS CONSTANT
THE BUG FACTORY Thomas is disrupting the food system by creating scalable, accessible and sustainable protein. Winner of Innovate UK Award and Barclays Bank Entrepreneur 2022, The Bug Factory is transforming food waste into insect protein and plant fertilisers. Empowering British livestock enterprises to save money and achieve carbon-negative goals. Their pods are a sustainable solution, fully aligned with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. IMPACT • By 2026 C02 reduced by 125,000,000 kgCOe = 2,000,000 flights from London to NYC
PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT JONATHAN JACKSON CEO
PREVISICO Two decades of Loughborough research underpins a unique, real-time, property-level flood forecasting technology that is helping to protect and save lives and livelihoods worldwide. FloodMap Live provides continuous modelling up to 48 hours in advance; using hyperlocal weather forecasts and nowcasts, provided by IBM, and topographical data to predict surface water, river and coastal flooding. IMPACT • 500,000 council/housing associations receiving flood forecasts • 35 employees
Vibrant and inclusive communities
We will bring together creative and communication skills alongside analytical and technological approaches to find novel solution to societal issues such as wealth inequality, the spread of disinformation and international security.
EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES FLORA BOA
KASAIE Using artificial intelligence to address the afro curly haircare data gap, Kasaie automates the medical and cosmetic consultation process to quickly and efficiently provide information and recommendations for products and haircare services. Users can access this through tailored profiles which update as they engage with the website. On the b2b side, anonymised data from the consultation is gathered to provide insights to brands and the wider haircare industry on how to better cater to this traditionally underserved community. As a result of her achievements in this field, Flora has been awarded Innovate UK funding to continue to develop the prototype, UNiDAYS Women of the Year Finalist and featured in GTA Tech Voices in Shadows book. IMPACT • Panelist on Girls Talk Summit – 8,000+ women across 37 countries • Named Top 150 Future Leaders by Powerful Media publication
SUPPORTING DISABILITIES KATIE MICHAELS
MOTI ME Moti Me are designing a physio product for children with disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, aiming to improve levels of achievement for developmental milestones. Their innovative, patented product is designed as a physiotherapy aid to help children with learning and movement disabilities. Katie has partnered with a number of organisations and charities to trial her first product range and was recently awarded the national Ingenuity Programme’s National Health Champion Award. IMPACT • 2 trials at educational centres • 5 actives prototypes with positive feedback in real-world situations
CREATING FUTURE LEADERS GURUPMA SINGH
G TEAM ACADEMY Providing leadership coaching and helping future leaders learn the skills and mindset to support diversity, fairness and inclusivity creating positive change and teamwork in the workplace and across communities. IMPACT • 450 attended workshops • 19 coached • 3 clients
BUILDING OUR COMMUNITIES LEN continues to develop a more inclusive and targeted approach to entrepreneurship activities. Our communities enable individuals to easily identify the resources and support that align with their specific needs. They also provide an environment to more easily connect with like-minded people at a similar stage of development; enabling founders to find a support network and role models a few steps ahead of them to learn from. This approach helps us to build strong communities that generate innovation and foster collaboration across a diverse range of entrepreneurial endeavours.
51 CONNECTING
50% CREATING
STUDENTS CONSULTED LOCAL BUSINESSES WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
INCREASE IN FEMALES APPLYING FOR FUNDING
30 CHAMPIONING
36 COMMERCIALISING
BUSINESS EXPERTS JOINED THE LOUGHBOROUGH VENTURE MENTORING SCHEME
FOUNDERS JOINED THE INCUBATOR
WHAT OUR COMMUNITIES SAID CONNECT
JAMIE CLARKE
CREATE
JAMIE CLARK PRODUCTIONS
BEN LEWIS
‘My experience with LEN has been invaluable and had a huge impact on my trajectory as a founder. From the opportunities, advice, individual support and accessible guidance it has transformed me as both an entrepreneur and an individual.’
SMALL TALK
Received skill-up funding £500
‘The Start-up fund has not only provided me with funding to help accelerate my business, but it also gave me the opportunity to pitch in front of a panel of entrepreneurs gaining valuable feedback.’
Awarded Year in Enterprise Winner 2023 and Power Pitch Champion 2023
Received skill-up funding to develop his venture SmallTalk.
COMMERCIALISE
CHAMPION
JOE FUGGLE
LARA MILWARD
THE ATHLETE PLACE
LOUGHBOROUGH ALUMNI AND NEUROLEADERSHIP COACH
‘LUinc. has not only provided a physical space and guidance to pursue our business goals, but it’s environment and community has genuinely changed me and my life for the better. If you’re considering entrepreneurship or making the jump, I can’t recommend LEN enough.’ Received skill-up funding £5,000 Secured a place within our Incubator Awarded funding through Innovate
‘I have been impressed with the quality of businesses and talent of founders who have pitched to me as part of the Loughborough Venture Mentoring Service. It has been a pleasure to reconnect with the University and give my time to support the Loughborough enterprise Network to thrive.’
FUTURE AMBITIONS
ENHANCING STUDENT AND GRADUATE EXPERIENCE
We will create the businesses, solutions and technologies of the future, providing tailored support and funding to the people who will empower them, delivered through our vibrant entrepreneurship and innovative ecosystem.
We will support the highest number of entrepreneurial graduates in the UK by ensuring every student develops their enterprise skills and entrepreneurial spirit as part of their degree programme.
NURTURING INNOVATION AND START-UPS
ATTRACTING DIVERSE TALENT
We will develop and inspire a self-sustaining pipeline of students, graduates and staff entrepreneurs through a strong and ambitious enterprise ecosystem, shaped and influenced by our alumni and industry partners: experts at the forefront of industry.
We will ensure our student, graduate and staff businesses reflect our culturally vibrant University community, supporting business founders from diverse and underrepresented groups including female founders, marginalised ethic groups and low socio-economic backgrounds.
CREATING PARTNERSHIPS
DEVELOPING WORLD CHANGING INNOVATIONS
We will be recognised as global leaders for enterprise: the number one choice in the UK for entrepreneurial students and staff; placing ourselves at the forefront of enterprise and entrepreneurial policy.
We will ignite high-impact spin out businesses which support our research and innovation ambitions, strengthening our place as leaders in our field. Everything we pursue will have global impact, improvement of lives and social responsibility at its heart.
THANK YOU We simply could not achieve the successes we have outlined without the help and support of our alumni, partners and friends. Here are just a few of the organisations we would like to thank.
WANT TO CONNECT OR FIND OUT MORE? Please reach out at
85332/CPS/NOV23
len@lboro.ac.uk