Entrepreneurship Vibes 2022 draws students into entrepreneurship journey

Students developed their own business ideas in this year’s event led by Dr Lebene Soga for the Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Dr Lebene Soga, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Leadership at Henley Business School, led the Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship (HCfE) annual Entrepreneurship Vibes 2022 event, now expanded into a week-long entrepreneurial journey for students to create their own business ideas.

Entrepreneurship Vibes was held between 14-18 February 2022, extended from its previous format as a single day event. It was incorporated into the undergraduate curriculum as part of the student enhancement week. More than 340 students attended and were inspired by talks from HCfE's Academic Director, Professor Andrew Godley, and Executive Director, Jurek Sikorski.

Professor Godley's speech opened the event and challenged students to take up all the opportunities available to them at HCfE. Jurek followed up by introducing students to the vast array of resources, opportunities and programmes on offer to them, with a call to action encouraging them to get involved.

Students were then put into groups and challenged to develop business ideas that would solve real world problems. With Vibes coaches available to support the teams, a total of 92 business ideas were presented, with the top five teams winning vouchers as prizes.

Both Jurek and Professor Godley were part of the judging panel, along with Professor Peter Miskell and Dr Andrew Hull. The winning students were Ines Zhu (BSc International Business and Management with a Modern Language), Kyriakos Flouros (BSc Business and Management), Callum Colla (BSc International Business and Management), Nickhaal Vijeyakumar (BSc Business and Management) and Tsz Ho Jordan Tong (BSc Business and Management, Marketing), who designed a special flask that prevented spillage of its fluid contents while also regulating the internal temperature.

After the event had finished Dr Soga said: "Vibes is unique in the students' calendar. It energises the students and helps build the entrepreneurial mindset that employers are looking for. This year's programme has been a big success and I am thankful for the high level of commitment from our students."

Ines Zhu commented: "I felt very rewarded by winning this year's competition."

Dr Andrew Hull added: "I am not sure I have seen such high level of engagement among the students since the start of term as we see in the Vibes week."