Pitch it easy competition winners announced
£20,000 awarded to City alumni and student entrepreneurs
City, University of London and easyGroup are delighted to announce the winners of their entrepreneurial competition ‘Pitch it easy’.
The competition offered City, University of London students and alumni the opportunity to pitch their entrepreneurship idea to easy® founder and City alumnus Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (MSc, 1988). easyGroup gave a total of £20,000 in cash prizes, with £10,000 for the overall winner, and £2,000 each for five others. In addition, Sir Stelios will invite each of the winners to join the easy family of brands after the signing of a royalty/licence agreement.
The start-up competition attracted 72 applications in total from a variety of inspiring entrepreneurs with brilliant and thought-provoking ideas.
Alumnus Ludovico Tessari (BSc, 2018) was awarded the first prize of £10,000 for Unicorn Electrics. Unicorn offers a fully-serviced bespoke e-bike network to tourist attractions, hotels and other resorts or towns via a subscription model. The bikes can be rented directly by consumers downloading the Unicorn X Cities app.
The other winners were:
A £2,000 grant to Manoj Varsani’s (MBA, 2017) Hammock. Hammock is a web application that helps landlords maximise their profits while at the same time tracking their income, and expenses with the minimum of effort.
A £2,000 grant to Matti Fischer’s (MSc, 2019) Careloop. Careloop is a B2B/B2C online job platform for care service providers that matches demand and supply of both nursing and ancillary staff.
A £2,000 grant goes to Yamin Miah’s (BSc, 2019) BubbleMind. BubbleMind is an application that helps calm autistic children in the classroom without pharmacological intervention. It uses colours, sounds and touch that helps sooth sufferers, allowing them to remain in the classroom without disturbing their fellows.
A £2,000 grant goes to Rodrigo Camino, Wendi Lai and Olianna Gonzalez (MSc, 2020) - founders of Lonbrella. Lonbrella is an umbrella sharing system in London offering a reliable network of eco-friendly and elegant umbrellas located in both public and private premises.
A £2,000 grant goes to Olukunle Kayode’s Statmetrix (MSc,2014). Statmetrix automates performance analysis of football players using video and data. The application of AI allows coaching staff to give personalized feedback to each player and observe performance trends, allowing them to understand and condition their training needs.
Professor Costas Andriopoulos, Associate Dean for Entrepreneurship said:
“This competition is a true display of the talent and innovation happening all across City’s campus and community. It is an excellent opportunity for students and alumni to hone their entrepreneurial skills and learn from the successful serial entrepreneur and City alumnus, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and his team at EasyGroup.”