Student Entrepreneurs Believe in Angels

(PRWEB) May 12, 2005

When the Cambridge University Entrepreneurs annual business plan competition got underway last October, it attracted almost 50 student-led teams. But after the submission of preliminary business plans, an elimination round in January, and six months of intensive mentoring, just 13 teams are left.

At the final this Friday night, the competition judges will choose just five of them, picking the winners from a list of business plans that include:

affordable community wind-turbines

a new way to recycle 100% of tetrapac drink cartons

mobile internet cafés for the developing world

a non-invasive way of fixing fractures

ultra-efficient super capacitors that increase the output of renewable energy sources

broadband internet access delivered over power lines

a toxicity screening kit that eliminates the need for animal testing

Cambridge University Entrepreneurs' business plan competition is now the leading student enterprise competition in the UK. It has distributed more than £200,000 in prize money to date, thanks to sponsorship from a number of organisations including the Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI), and has launched over 25 student-led start-ups since its foundation in 2000. "We at CMI want entrepreneurship role models to become an integral part of UK undergraduate education. That's why CMI supports Cambridge University Entrepreneurs, and other student enterprise initiatives," says Professor Michael Kelly, executive director of CMI.

This year, in a new development, the five teams chosen by the competition's judges will have the opportunity to pitch their business plan to a panel of internationally-known entrepreneurs, in front of the assembled audience of business leaders, academics, competition judges, sponsors, friends, family and university students. If a winning team succeeds in whetting a Business Angel’s appetite with their elevator pitch, they will then have to negotiate the equity share they’re prepared to part with in return for the Angel’s investment.

Sitting on the panel of Angels at the live final will be: Hermann Hauser, the co-founder of Acorn Computers and Amadeus Capital Partners; Andy Richards, founder member of Cambridge Angels and non-executive Director of Cambridge Biotechnology; Robert Sansom, Chairman of Cambridge Angels and co-founder of FORE Systems ; David Cleevely founder of telecoms consultancy business Analysis, and non-executive Director of Cambridge Broadband; Sherry Coutu founder of ISI Emerging Markets and Interactive Investor International Plc.

Star of BBC2's "Dragon's Den" Doug Richard, the founder and Chairman of Library House and co-founder of Cambridge Angels, will sit as the Arch-Angel for the evening, heading the panel in an advisory capacity.

“The Angels aren’t just putting in their own money, they are putting their reputations on the line,” says Stewart McTavish, PhD student at Cambridge University and President of Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE). “Quite apart from the money on the table, the value of the expertise, contacts and support that these student-led start-ups could potentially get from their Angel is priceless.”

CUE is a student-run organisation and was founded in 2000 to inspire, educate and facilitate the creation of real businesses from the University of Cambridge. Originally modelled on the highly successful MIT $50k competition, the CUE business plan competition is now the leading student enterprise competition in the UK. The competition is divided into two categories; the £50k category dedicated to for-profit business plans, and the 3P (People, Planet, Productivity) category for social enterprise initiatives. During the course of the competition, students receive a significant amount of support, teaching and mentoring from Cambridge Enterprise and the University's Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning to help them hone their business plans and encourage them to turn their ideas into commercial reality.

“Cambridge learnt a lot from MIT in setting up the competition, but it hasn’t just been a one-way exchange of knowledge," says McTavish. "Over the last five years, we have gradually developed the format of the competition to fit the UK’s distinctive entrepreneurial culture. Last year we launched the 3P category, in recognition of the vital role social enterprise has to play in the economy. And this year we have opened up the competition to a panel of world-class business angels for the first time. We believe that these changes to the original MIT $50k model will increase the number of start-ups generated by students at Cambridge University, and we’re looking forward to sharing our learnings with MIT.”

Cambridge University Entrepreneurs will have a chance to do just that in a month's time, when the winners of both the CUE business creation competitions and the MIT $50k competition get together for the 5th Annual Gala Dinner at the Guildhall in London on Tuesday 14th June. This event gives the student entrepreneurs a chance to pitch their ideas to a wide audience, including a number of business angels, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.

Notes to Editors:

Members of the press interested in attending the event on Friday May 13 should contact Tamara Roukaerts, Press Officer on 01223 448793, t.roukaerts@cmi.cam.ac.uk or Rachel Simpson, 07796 261297, email: r.simpson@cmi.cam.ac.uk

Members of the public wishing to attend this event should email web@cue.org.uk

Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE) is a student-run organisation founded to inspire, educate and facilitate the creation of real businesses from the University of Cambridge. In the five years since its inception, CUE has distributed over £200,000 in prize money. CUE has a global reputation, and is Britain’s leading student business plan competition. For more information, visit: http://www.cue.org.uk
· The Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI) is a pioneering partnership between two world-class institutions: the University of Cambridge in the UK and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. Established in July 2000, it receives funding from the UK government and industry partners to carry out education and research to enhance the competitiveness, productivity and entrepreneurship of the UK economy. For more information about CMI, please contact Tamara Roukaerts or visit our website: http://www.cambridge-mit.org
· Cambridge Enterprise facilitates the commercial development of University intellectual property. Staff manage all aspects of patents, copyright, company creation, initial investment, fund raising and associated contractual arrangements. Income from patents and software exceeds £1.6m a year and is growing. Cambridge Enterprise licenses patents and other intellectual property to existing companies, both large and small, as well as to spinouts formed to exploit University technology. Working together with venture capital funds, the University forms around twenty-five new companies each year (about five are based on University intellectual property). The University holds equity in over 40 such companies. For more information visit the Cambridge Enterprise website.

· The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) delivers a range of educational activities on the practise of Entrepreneurship, to inspire and build skills and 'spread the spirit of enterprise' within the University of Cambridge and beyond. For more information, visit the CfEL website

•     50K COMPETITION FINALISTS

AromaFlora: Fairtrade Rosies with a longer lasting fragrance

BOPPHY: Enabling broadband internet over the power grid

Camfix: Non-invasive external fixators for fractures

Cambridge Performance Solutions: Using advanced control technology to make brewing more efficient

Cam-Cap: Ultra-efficient super capacitors enabling many renewable energy sources

ConnectEase: Reducing infection in peritoneal kidney dialysis

EnvAl: Allowing for 100% recycling of consumer drink cartons (tetrapaks)

Linguit: Fully automated mobile phone question answer system

2Ci: Enabling high quality composite material design and manufacture

• 3P COMPETITION FINALISTS

AromaFlora: Fairtrade Rosies with a longer lasting fragrance

Cam-Cap: Ultra-efficient super capacitors enabling many renewable energy sources

EnvAl: Allowing for 100% recycling of consumer drink cartons (tetrapaks)

Leap Frog: Enabling real, sustainable ecotourism

Loxion Internet Cafe: Bringing the internet to rural South African communities

SimuGen Ltd: Cheaper toxicity screening kits to reduce animal testing

WindNet: Creating community owned wind turbines

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