WakeSense Awarded Place on Prestigious Santander Universities Emerging Entrepreneurs Programme

WakeSense is led by Fabian Cardozo-Cajamarca, Lizz Wilden and Yan Yang, who have developed a wearable earpiece device for monitoring brain activity, used to help alert drivers and heavy machinery operators to fatigue and prevent accidents. The WakeSense team have received significant support from Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship, having been awarded the University of Reading's IDEAFEST Best Innovative Idea category in 2019 and £5,000 from the Henley Greenshoots Seed Finance Initiative in April 2020 on the path towards further developing their business idea.

The SUEE, which starts on 28 May and finishes in September, is open to only a select few businesses that have already successfully managed to raise funds and were formed within the last one and a half years by graduates from Santander partner universities. Following the Virtual Launch Event, the WakeSense team will all receive exclusive access to the Sporting Edge Performance Zone library's online content and participate on an Accelerator to get advice on scaling and developing a business. The programme will culminate with a National Final in September, where all businesses will have a chance to win a share of £90,000.

Speaking about the chance to be part of the SUEE, Fabian was positive about the opportunities that it would give WakeSense: "The validation and visibility provided by the SUEE will allow us to increase our chances of obtaining pre-seed finance for the venture in the future. The additional benefits of networking and mentorship will allow us to perfect our idea, facilitate testing it with experts and gain an unbiased perspective on future perspectives for scaling. The financial reward would further serve as a stepping stone for continuing with the design stage and market research. Winning the SUEE will also help improve our investment deck, pitch and strengthen our validation for Innovate UK Grant applications."

Henley Business School via the University of Reading is a partner of Santander Universities.