IDEAFEST Final 2022

The IDEAFEST Student Business Idea Competition is an annual initiative that seeks to find the Henley Business School or University of Reading student with the best idea for a business. The winner of IDEAFEST will be awarded a cash prize of £1,000 to spend on developing their business idea, with the additional prize of mentoring from business experts. There are also cash prizes for second and third places and an additional cash prize of another £1,000 for the best innovative idea. On top of this, there is a special China bursary open to full time MBA students for the best idea capable of being commercialised in China. This bursary is sponsored by Savio Kwan, the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Alibaba.

This year five finalists were selected and they are listed below:

- Aquaverticalis, led by BSc Real Estate student Kolatat Phaiboonnukulkij, is a business that produces vertical planters to fit into the exterior walls of buildings, using phytoremediation to cleanse water and help reduce heat absorption, waste and climate change

- Authentura, led by BA Entrepreneurship student Shlok Maheshwari, is a start-up that offers firms a software security audit report to ensure the cyber safety of their business

- CheckL, led by MSc Entrepreneurship student Thatchaphol Tiranaprakit, is a tech start-up that provides a specific test of graphics software skills when recruiting employees for an organisation

- Insight Ed, led by Executive MBA student Cassandra Renaut, is an education tech platform connecting young people to business boot camps to develop fundamental professional skills such as critical thinking, communication and presentation

- SalonSurf, led by BA Accounting and Business student Shreya Tiwari, is an app that connects customers with salons, providing instant booking appointments and information such as prices and reviews

The IDEAFEST Final 2022 will be held at 2:00pm on Wednesday 27 April in room G10 of the Henley Business School building, Whiteknights campus, with an option to dial in remotely via Microsoft Teams for those unable to attend face to face. Each of the above student teams will be presenting their business idea to a panel of judges. and the schedule is listed below:

2:00pm, Welcome and Introduction

2:15pm, Aquaverticalis Presentation

2:30pm, Authentura Presentation

2:45pm, CheckL Presentation

3:00pm, Insight Ed Presentation

3:15pm, Salon Surf Presentation

3:30pm, Break

4:30pm, Results Announced

5:00pm Closing Remarks

5:15pm, Finish

To register to be part of the audience for this event, sign up here.