Young entrepreneurs win big at CitySpark 2024

Students and alumni pitched their startup ideas for a share of the £15,000 prize pot at CitySpark, an entrepreneurship competition hosted by City, University of London.

After receiving more than 122 applications for the annual contest, City’s entrepreneurship arm CityVentures selected 10 finalists who pitched a range of inventive business concepts to an expert judging panel.

Ideas included a platform to address disparities in healthcare, an e-learning business education tool for children and a mobile app making fitness into a game.

Entrants pitched the viability of their startups to judges who then quizzed them on their plans in a Dragons’-Den style competition.

Five winning teams each earned £3,000 towards further development and entry into CityVentures’ incubator programme, the Launch Lab, to receive business support and mentoring:

• Emploi – an platform for Londoners to find specialist services for everyday needs
• Kirfu – an app that connects freelance couriers with delivery companies
• Mirror.AI – a wardrobe management and shopping experience app
• Quest Up – a mobile app that transforms fitness into a game
• StudentNet – a student internship and job placement service.

The panel of judges included Dhruvin Patel, Founder of Ocushield, Joey Li, CEO & Co-Founder of Leiho, Keith Tan, formerly a Managing Partner in a Singaporean investment fund.

It is very exciting to win this award. We have gained so much informative feedback and support from the start-up community.

Although the technical challenges are high, I’m sure we will make good use of the prize funding to reach the next milestone.

A significant portion of the prize will be invested in advancing our computer vision technology. We intend to further refine our virtual try-on technology. This involves improving the accuracy with which the 3D models mimic real-life body movements and how clothes fit on these models.

I’m very happy to be among the winners, feeling a strong sense of validation and excitement for what lies ahead.

With the prize money, my immediate plan is to establish and strengthen the brand for Quest Up and accelerating the development.

It felt extremely surreal to win. I feel immensely grateful for the support I received that evening and throughout this process, and for this opportunity.

Participating in public pitching and receiving recognition from honourable juries and the audience is always exhilarating.

The prize will be allocated to our upcoming marketing campaign, with a portion earmarked for further platform development.

Each year the quality of the pitches seems to get better and better.

This year we had a full house, excellent judges and some amazing pitches covering everything from wellbeing and employment apps to computer vision AI companies.

The hard work, passion and dedication of the entrepreneurs is clear to see and whilst we had to pick some winners on the day I have no doubt all the entrepreneurs involved will go on to do amazing things.