On Thursday 20th July, five business professionals met at the impressive London office of NatWest in Bishops Gate, to hear from eight young entrepreneurs to give their final presentations in an attempt to win the Young Start-Up Talent prize fund of business products and services to help kick start their businesses.
The Judges and Finalists: George Foster, Akram Allam, Phil Hall, Ibiere Banigo, Tade Fadairo, Matt Turner, Lorraine Nugent, Simon Maddox, Kimberely Moyo, Bill Morrow, Ben Chubb, Diana Florescu, Aftaab Allam and Leon Watson
The winner will be announced at a black tie showcase and gala dinner on 21st September at the NatWest offices in Bishops Gate.
The finalists were chosen following the previous speed networking event, where the semi-finalists shared their business ideas with the sponsors and judges.
Making up the judging panel for the London were: Phil Hall of NatWest, Bill Morrow of Angels Den, Simon Maddox of Owadally & King and the Young Start-Up Talent Co-Founders Matt Turner and Lorraine Nugent.
The 2017 Judges: Matt Turner, Ben Chubb, Phil Hall, Lorraine Nugent, Simon Maddox and Bill Morrow
Phill Hall of NatWest commented, “All of the finalists have done amazingly well with all showing a good balance of skills to take their businesses to the next level” whilst Bill Morrow further commented “what an amazing night and honoured to part of the judging process – five worthy businesses that all have an exciting future ahead”.
Simon Maddox of Owadally & King adding, “Everybody was professional, knew their numbers and were brilliant. The calibre of talent was incredible and there was a broad diversity between everybody. I would be happy to support all of them.
The Young Start-up Talent 2017 London finalists are as follows:
The 2017 London Finalists: Ibiere Banigo, Tade Fadairo, Leon Watson, Diana Florescu, George Foster, Kimberely Moyo, Akram Allam and Aftaab Allam
Aftaab Akram and Allam Akram, with ‘TheEcoSmart’ – UK’s first on-demand, eco-friendly, car washing app using a Bespoke Nano-spray technology and versatile branded smart cars to provide their services to customers in London. Customers can request and pay for all services through their app, website and over the phone.
Ibiere Banigo, with ‘Zoo Town’ – a forward-thinking online platform that connects students from universities across London with employment opportunities. Ibiere said, “I am grateful to have come this far, I just want to enjoy today and see where it takes me”.
Diana Florescu, with ‘Local Spoon’ – a smart application which helps you save money with great restaurants and get rewarded for what you know best - sharing offers with your friends, writing reviews and being a loyal customer to your favourite restaurants. Diana also commented, “We are revolutionising a multi-billion dollar global industry with dynamic promotions. Restaurants have the freedom to instantly promote tables that otherwise would remain empty and to avoid throwing food once again".
George Foster and Leon Watson, with ‘Savi’ – an app that replaces the traditional reward scheme that allows users to accumulate loyalty points automatically when they spend through their mobile phones or using debit/credit cards.
Tade Fadairo and Kimberely Moyo, with ‘CreatiMatch’ – an ideas and skills matching platform exclusively for university students. The duo said, “It went by really quickly – the questions were more grilling than expected”.
Kimberley Moyo and Tade Fadairo of CreatiMatch during their pitch
Young Start-Up Talent would like to use this opportunity to thank everyone who was working behind-the-scenes and making this event so successful.
The 2017 London sponsors are:
NatWest
Angels Den
Owadally & King
The National Association of College & University Entrepreneurs
Croydon Advertisers
Beta Futures
Croydon Chamber of Commerce
Creative Pod
Fast signs
Frost Group
Gatwick Airport
Hands on IT
Sussex Innovation Centre
Media Word Waves
Minuteman Press
Morton Michel
Mathews Yard
Platinum Business Magazine
Structured Communications
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Young Enterprise
Lorraine Nugent and Director of Young Start-up Talent added “the calibre for London along with the businesss plans and presentations far exceeded everyone’s expectations” and went on to say “a huge thank you to the judges, sponsors and YST team and of course the candidates for their time, commitment and energy during the process”.
To find out more information, please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk