The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge
Meet our finalists
Anjali Devadasan:
Synergy
Anjali’s business Synergy aims to decrease greenhouse emissions by generating low-cost renewable energy on your journey. They provide efficient, recyclable, vertical-axis wind turbines that rotate due to the airflow of passing vehicles.
Evan Davies:
Scrapp
Evan’s business Scrapp is a mobile app and tablet station that separates waste at the point of disposal. Through a scan of a product’s barcode, Scrapp shows users how to dispose of a product's packaging correctly.
Idan Gal-Shohet:
Fibe
Idan’s business Fibe aims to revolutionise the fashion industry by utilising cutting-edge technology to extract cellulosic fibres from potato harvest waste. These fibres are transformed into fibres that are compatible with conventional textile machinery.
Marion Cantillon:
Pit Seal
Marion’s business Pit Seal aims to remove plastic sheeting and waste tyres used in the silage process with an edible spray on solution biofilm. This biofilm aims to create a zero-waste circular economy whilst also decreasing methane emissions.
Olivia Simpson:
Symbiotex
Olivia’s business Symbiotex aims to tackle single use plastics in the medicine industry. Taking waste cooking oils and one of the worlds fasting growing organisms algae to create a range of home compostable 3D printable filaments and pellets for injection moulding.
Competition overview
The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge brought to you by Verizon Business and Unloc is an annual event that seeks to find cutting edge young talent across Europe. Now in its 5th year there’s never been a better time to put your ideas into action and reach for success!
The challenge
Got a great business idea or concept? If you’re 16-25 and have a fresh and innovative technology led idea for a business, or have started one already - then we want to hear from you! Our competition seeks the best young minds from across Europe, young people with vision, social awareness and the ambition to achieve.
Our Grand Prize Winner will receive a £10,000 / €11,000* grant, a mentorship package and pro-bono support to accelerate their business idea or start-up. It’s the opportunity to make your mark, get noticed and put your ideas into action.
All shortlisted finalists will also receive the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge Masterclass Support Programme. An assigned enterprise support mentor who will create a 1-2-1 support plan focusing on your key priorities. These could be addressing knowledge gaps, or being matched with services. You will also receive a series of masterclasses across the next year on a range of topics and with a variety of industry expert speakers. Last year's masterclasses focused on: - Business Finance, Equity Sharing & Legal Structures, R&D, Strategic Planning + Forecasting.
* The actual prize fund will be dependent on the exchange rate at time of award.
The prize
One overall winner, selected by our panel of industry experts and entrepreneurs, will walk away with a substantial £10,000 / €11,000* grant to invest in their business, whilst each finalist will also receive a £1,000/€1,100* cash injection.
* The actual prize fund will be dependent on the exchange rate at time of award.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Unsure if your idea is good enough? Everyone thinks the same thing. Even the most skilled, ambitious and talented entrepreneurs can doubt themselves from time to time. What matters is your passion, your vision and your logical thinking!
Take some of our previous challenge entrants for example, they were all nervous and unsure of their chance of winning, but now are flourishing and running their own successful businesses! Read their interviews where they share their experiences and how they triumphed at the Grand Final!
Meet our winners!
Now in its fifth year, the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge has crowned four successful challenge pioneers, each with a unique and outstanding business idea.
Find out more about each of our winners and some of our previous finalists.
Nick Cotter
(Ireland)
Our 2022 winners’ organisation Cotter Agritech reduces chemical use in agriculture using a patented hardware and software solution that reduces labour, costs and drug resistance compared to conventional blanket parasite control.
Rowan Armstrong
(Ireland)
Our 2021 winner's organisation BioLiberty designed an assistive robotic glove to strengthen grip for those with medical conditions or disabilities, Machine Learning, Biomedical Digital Signal Processing and Advanced Robotics.
Jamie Bankhead
(Scotland)
Our 2020 winner launched his company Konglomerate Games, a socially aware business specialising in gamified experiences to improve the health and wellbeing of children with long term illnesses.
Alison Wood
(Scotland)
Our 2019 winner used her win to launch Lilypads, a socially aware business which sells re-usable sanitary products to countries where it allows young girls to continue their education and gain independance.
The prize
All you have to do is record a 60-second pitch video on your phone and submit it with your application here to have a chance to win:
- £10,000/€11,000* of funding for your start-up business
- A mentorship package to accelerate your idea
- Finalist runners-up will receive £1,000 of funding for your start-up business
- Ticket to the Global One Young World 2023 Belfast Summit in Ireland
* The actual prize fund will be dependent on the exchange rate at time of award.
The timeline
3rd October
Online competition launch
20th January @ 5pm (GMT)
Online competition deadline
February
Finalists announced
9th March @ 3pm (GMT)
Competition criteria
Applications will be judged on three key factors:
Viability
Tech innovation
Sustainability
Viability
- Can the plan achieve what it states it will do?
- Does it operate within the budget/resources currently held or will acquire?
- Is the idea investment ready? How will you use the funding if successful?
Tech innovation
- Is the idea unique?
- Does it have a clear unique selling point?
- Is the technology solving the problem in a creative way or filling a gap in the market?
Sustainability
- Will the venture improve people’s lives?
- Will it meet social or community needs in a new way?
- Does it meet or sustain a UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)?
Enter - like a boss!
What are you waiting for? Being your own boss and running your own business is a dream many young people have, but unless you try you’ll never know if you can succeed.
It’s time to enter like a boss (literally) and ensure your aims and ambitions become a reality.
How to apply
- Simply record a short video of yourself that’s at least 60 seconds and a maximum of 90 seconds long - remember to explain how your idea meets the three criteria!
- Hit the apply button
- Fill out the application form and submit your video
- Sit tight and wait to hear from the judges: finalists are announced in early February 2023
Rules and eligibility
Applications will only be accepted from:
Rules and eligibility
Applications will only be accepted from:
- Individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 years on the 1st February 2023
- Residents and/or citizens of a mainland European country
- Business proposals must meet the following criteria:
- Be legal in all mainland European countries
- Be either a pre-start (not yet trading); or not have been trading for more than 3 years and have an annual turnover
of less than £100,000 on 1st February 2023 - Not have the purpose of political lobbying
- Be the applicant’s own idea and not infringe on the copyright, patent or intellectual property of others
- Immediate family members of the judging panel are not eligible to apply
- Previous entrants who attended the Grand Final are not eligible to apply
The challenge sponsors
At Verizon, we create the networks that connect people to the things they love, be it businesses to consumers; work teams to work teams; or employees to charities.
We’re problem-solvers, engineers, technologists, innovators and thought-leaders who create the networks that move the world forward. Networks that connect anything to everything and everyone to anyone. Networks built for innovators, entrepreneurs and anyone with the ambition to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.
Our story has been hundreds of years in the making and today businesses use our award-winning networks to make breakthroughs in immersive retail experiences and virtual fashion shows, through to remote healthcare and building revolutionary factory infrastructures to deliver the promise of the digital world.
Unloc is a social enterprise on a mission to empower young people to be innovative change makers. We strive to encourage entrepreneurial thinking amongst 16-25 year olds and promote alternative career pathways.
Through our wide range of dynamic programmes, academies, and courses, as well as our physical Changemaker Studios spaces, digital offer, and touring roadshows across the UK, we provide young people with the confidence, creativity and skills required to be the changemakers of tomorrow.
Through the Verizon Business and Unloc partnership, the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge provides an extremely valuable platform for young people across Europe to promote their creative business ideas, and take their first bold steps into a promising new future.
* The actual prize fund will be dependent on the exchange rate at time of award.
We'd love to hear from you!
Get in touch
YoungEntChallenge@unloc.org.uk
Find us on social media: Twitter: @YEChallenge