Westminster Enterprise Network (WeNetwork), the University of Westminster’s entrepreneurial community, has opened applications for the 2022 edition of the annual Big Idea Competition.
The Big Idea Competition is the University’s yearly business competition for Westminster students and graduates, which is generously supported by Santander Universities UK. The competition empowers students and graduates to develop their entrepreneurial skills and access funding to grow their business.
There are three different entry routes to the competition, including the ‘Freelance’ category where students and graduates can develop their ability to pitch and present their portfolio and services, learn how to work as a paid professional freelancer and learn how to find and apply for paid work and commissions. The prize for coming in first place is £2,500, second place is £1,500 and third place is £1,000. This year, there will also be a viral idea award of £750.
The second entry route called ‘Ideation’ involves entrants learning how to build and frame a business model around an idea for a business, pitch and get feedback on how to improve and develop their idea, and learn how to work towards a proof of concept and minimum viable product or services. The awards for this category are the same as the ‘Freelance’ category.
The final category, ‘Acceleration’, allows entrants to take their existing business to the next level, get investment ready and learn how to build key partnerships, identify a strategy to develop and grow their team and scale production, and customer and revenue growth. The winner of the Acceleration category will receive funding of £5,000, while the runner up ill receive £3,000 and third place is awarded £1,250. The Acceleration category also features a viral idea award of £750.
Talking about the competition, Clelia Bevillard, Senior Student Enterprise Manager at the University of Westminster, said: “We are very happy to open this fourth edition of the Big Idea Competition as we believe this is a fantastic live project for students and graduates to develop a skillset that will be strongly sought after in their future careers and to expand their networks with valuable industry contacts.
“Our team will work closely with applicants to ensure that they get a great experience from taking part in the Big Idea Competition, and we look forward to seeing the wide range of innovative ideas that our Westminster community will present.”
The deadline for applications closes at 5pm on 25 March 2022.
Find out more about the Big Idea Competition.
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