Pitch Final 2025 NEWSLETTER
START 2025 culminated on Tuesday 25 March with business cases being delivered by the eight participating teams in a preseed ‘investment’ pitch to a panel of industry experts and a live audience at Glasgow Science Centre.
An all female team from St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School were announced as this year’s winners of START by a panel of industry experts made up of: Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE; Jillian MacBryde, Associate Principal, Entrepreneurship & Enterprise, University of Strathclyde; and Jessica Geddes-Scott, Executive Director at Morgan Stanley
Jovita, Elodie, Amy, Emma and Maja’s business idea pairs existing tracking technology with jewellery to create a wearable yet discreet accessory designed to keep women safe and start a wider conversation about violence against women and girls
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Partnership Announcements
In April, we announced two strategic partnerships for START with Scottish EDGE and the University of Strathclyde. These partnerships will supercharge START and allow us to develop the next generation of entrepreneurial talent in Scotland by connecting schools to the Scottish entrepreneurial ecosystem!
Scottish EDGE
Scottish EDGE, Scotland’s biggest business funding competition, has been an inspiration to START since the beginning This year, EDGE alumni have played a key role in mentoring our pupil startups, and this partnership will allow us to scale this transformative aspect of our programme to even more schools. As mentioned, the winning team from this session’s programme will be delivering their pitch at the Scottish EDGE Awards Dinner on 20 May.
University of Strathclyde
As the 2023 European Entrepreneurial University of the Year, the University of Strathclyde has long been a leader in fostering innovation and supporting aspiring entrepreneurs Through its institution-wide entrepreneurship strategy, Strathclyde Inspire, the university empowers students, staff, and alumni to become entrepreneurial change makers and develop, scale, and commercialise their ideas This year’s START winners will be participating in the upcoming Strathclyde Inspire: Reaching Beyond summit.
The founders of the future are currently sitting in our classrooms, and these partnerships will help us on our mission to fast-track their success.