IDEAFEST Student Business Idea Competition

With cash prizes up to £1,000 and expert mentoring up for grabs, students that enter IDEAFEST have the opportunity to present their business ideas and gain support that could lead to the business idea being commercialised. You don't need prior knowledge of entrepreneurship or business experience to enter IDEAFEST - all that's required is a genuine passion for developing a business idea.

IDEAFEST comprises of two rounds, with the first round involving submitting your idea to a panel of judges. The best entries will move onto the second round, where students get the chance to pitch their idea to the judging panel in front of a live audience.

Students can enter IDEAFEST either on their own or as part of a team and prior to submitting it's recommended that students arrange an appointment at the Business Idea and Start-Up Clinic to help refine their idea. To book a slot at the Clinic, contact Alex Baker on a.j.baker@henley.ac.uk

The winner of IDEAFEST receives a cash prize of £1,000 to spend on developing their business idea, with mentoring from HCfE and sponsors. 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 bursary open to 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.

The key dates for IDEAFEST 2024 are as follows:

- Introduction to IDEAFEST Workshop 2024, 24 January 2024 at 1:00pm in room G15 of the Henley Business School building, Whiteknights campus - register to attend here

- IDEAFEST opens for entries, 29 January 2024

- IDEAFEST closes for entries, 25 March 2024

- IDEAFEST Final 2024, 24 April 2024 at 2:00pm in room G15 of the Henley Business School building, Whiteknights campus

IDEAFEST 2023 was won by InvestorPro Academy, an online education platform and community that teaches beginner traders and investors about stocks, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, who collected £1,000 for winning the Best Business Idea category. The prizes for the Best Innovative Idea was also won by InvestorPro Academy, whilst the Best Business Idea for China categories was awarded to Fit Cookie AI, an application programming interface that uses artificial intelligence to provide personalised nutrition recommendations. Read the full news release of the IDEAFEST 2023 Final here.

In 2019 IDEAFEST also launched internationally, with finals held in Kazakhstan and Ukraine. To find out more about the first international IDEAFEST competitions, read the full stories here and here respectively.

Read below what past IDEAFEST winners have said about their experiences of participating:

Shlok Maheshwari, IDEAFEST 2022 winner and BA Entrepreneurship student: "IDEAFEST was a good way to develop and explore the possibilities of building a business idea. Winning just made it all the sweeter."

Josh Moden, IDEAFEST 2021 winner and BA Entrepreneurship and Management student: "I entered IDEAFEST as I felt it was a way to show what I had accomplished through my entrepreneurial business ventures, as well as giving me a chance to test out my presentation skills in front of an expert audience. I found the whole experience to be very well executed and a great help in terms of planning and carrying out a great presentation. It was great to be a part of the process and I would definitely recommend anyone who is thinking of entering the competition to do so.

Lucas Cimino, IDEAFEST 2020 winner and BA Entrepreneurship and Management student: "I'm honoured - IDEAFEST is a great competition. The process to practice pitching gives students skills they can use forever."

IDEAFEST is kindly sponsored by Savio Kwan, the former President and COO of Alibaba, Southern Communications Group and CBY Capital.