Could your business idea change the world?

Here’s your chance to prove it.

Could your business idea change the world? Here’s your chance to prove it.

Applications are open for The 
Young Entrepreneurs Challenge
2025. Applications will close in:

Applications are open for The 
Young Entrepreneurs Challenge
2025. Applications will close at:

05:00pm, 17th, January 2025

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Want to get noticed, put your ideas into action and make your mark?

The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge—brought to you by Verizon and Unloc—is an annual event centred around finding the best young talent across Europe.

If you’re 16–25 and have a fresh and innovative tech-led idea, The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge could help you get your business off the ground—or if you’ve already launched, boost it to the next level.

Previous year’s finalists’ ideas included:

"Never have I felt so empowered at a competition/event by the other finalists and the staff! Don’t just consider! APPLY for The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge!”

Olivia Simpson – 2023 Winner

The 2024 finalists

Previous finalists

Do you have an innovative tech-led idea but you’re not sure it’s good enough? Don’t worry. All entrepreneurs doubt themselves sometimes. But just look at last year’s finalists. They entered their innovations and made it through to the final stages. Read more about them and their ideas. Hopefully, it will inspire you to enter this year’s challenge. 

Ethan Waisberg

AngioGenius

Devi Pathak

PulmoGuard ProScan

Mariia Alipatova

Solar Optic

Kolotat Phaiboonnukulkij

Phytaveren Technology

New 2024 Ignite Category

£1k for Ignite Prize winners

Our Ignite Prize recognises those ideas that aren’t yet as advanced as the entries for the main prize – but still show great promise. There’s a cash prize of £1,000 (1,175€) of each of the three best innovations.

The prizes

The prizes

One-to-one mentorship

You’ll be paired with an enterprise mentor, who will create an individual plan focused on your key priorities. This could be addressing knowledge gaps or helping match you with contacts or services to help get your business off the ground and into orbit. Along with all finalists, you’ll also get a series of exclusive masterclasses with a variety of industry experts; last year’s masterclasses included business finance, legal structures & R&D.

Cash award of £10K (11.75K€*)

The overall winner will receive a £10,000 (11,750€*) grant to help accelerate their business idea or start-up..

* Approximate Euros equivalent. The actual prize will be calculated based on the exchange rate at the time of the award. 

Global One Young World Summit

The winner will also get a trip to the One Young World 2025 Global Summit in Munich. This annual event brings together many of the brightest young leaders from 190+ countries and 250+ organisation. The agenda is packed with events including speeches, workshops and networking events with influential political, business and humanitarian visionaries.

The judging criteria

The judging criteria

Applications will be judged on three key factors:

Is it innovative?

  • 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?

Does it improve 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)?

Is it viable?

  • 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?

How to apply

How to apply

Requirements

Applying is easy:

  • Simply record a short video  (at least 60 seconds but no more than 90 seconds).
  • Remember to explain how your idea meets the three criteria.
  • Hit the “Apply now” button.
  • Fill out the application form and submit your video.

Then sit tight, finalists will be announced in early February 2025.

Eligibility

Applicants must be:

  • Between the ages of 16 and 25 years on 1 February 2025.
  • Residents and/or citizens of the U.K. or the continent of Europe.
  • Immediate family members of the judging panel are not eligible to apply.
  • Previous entrants are welcome to re-enter, but previous finalists are not eligible.

Business proposals must:

  • Be legal in all mainland European countries.
  • Not have the purpose of political lobbying.
  • Be the applicant’s own idea.
  • Not infringe on the copyright, patent or intellectual property of others.
  • Be submitted in English (both written and video).

Businesses must be either:

  • Pre-start (not yet trading).
  • No more than three years old.
  • Have had an annual turnover of less than £100,000 (120,000€) in its most recent financial year. This includes recipients of grants & donations.

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Timeline

Timeline

Applications open
January 17, 2025
Finalists selected
March 20th, 2025
September 30, 2024
Applications close
February 2025
Grand final in London

Insight from past finalists, judges and mentors

Insight from past finalists, judges and mentors

The 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 dynamic 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, help grow their skills,  get a handle on their ambitions and promote alternative career pathways.

Through our wide range of engaging 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 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.

Verizon UK Limited. Registered in England and Wales #02776038. Registered address Reading International Business Park, Basingstoke Road, Reading, RG2 6DA.

Unloc Learning Limited. Registered in England and Wales #08578126. Registered address c/o Portsmouth Guildhall, Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth, PO1 2AB.

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@ 2024 Verizon UK Limited. All rights reserved.

Ethan Waisberg: AngioGenius

Ethan has developed AngioGenius – generative AI technology that converts pictures of eyes from one type of image (fundus photographs) into another type (fluorescein angiography). This technology can be used to enable better tracking of the progression of eye disease – potentially helping to save the sight of millions of people around the world.

Devi Pathak: PulmoGuard ProScan

Devi has developed the PulmoGuard ProScan. It’s an innovative breathalyser which analyses organic chemicals and biomarkers to determine whether a person is susceptible to lung cancer. The device is intended for use in both routine GP exams and also for more high-risk individuals (e.g. smokers, exposure to environmental pollutants).

Mariia Alipatova: Solar Optic

Mariia’s Solar Optic hybrid sunlight system utilises advanced optics, and a sun-tracking mechanism, to provide natural illumination indoors. The system concentrates sunlight on the surface of the lens, and the light beam is then guided through a polymer optic cable to direct high-efficiency light into a building – offering potentially significant cost and energy savings.

Kolotat Phaiboonnukulkij: Phytaveren Technology

Kolatat’s start-up business, Phytaveren Technology, specialises in designing and developing eco-friendly, low-energy building materials. The solutions are created to help address thermal regulation, carbon sequestration and structural integrity in construction.

Theodor Blomberg: The Swirl

Theodor’s innovation, The Swirl, is one of the first truly bladeless hydro generators that harnesses the vortex effect – setting it apart from conventional generators. Crafted from recycled plastics, using 3D printing technology, the device enables the harvesting of green energy, while also creating a safe passage for fish and other biomasses.

Georgina Lee

Georgina’s idea is for a portable sign language translator hoping to improve the quality of education of those who cannot verbally communicate. The £1,000 would be used to create a prototype using a small camera, small speaker, and learning how the optic flow within the sensor is going to work.

Harry Smith

Harry’s idea is a device for generating energy from the waves in the sea. It’s comprised of a series of tubes with magnetic floats in, which bob up and down with wave action and form a linear alternator. This energy is then rectified and can be fed back to the grid or used locally as a generator would. The £1,000 would fund tests in the sea with the current prototype, which would help to gather data on possible output levels, which informs suitable use cases.

Martina Criniti

Martina’s idea is the creation of a structure for use in the sea that can be turned into a basket with a double filtering function that keeps things contained and prevents them from spreading out. The idea aims to reduce plastics and microplastics in the coastal waters and rivers, primarily. The €1,200 would be used to conduct research and seek out researchers.