SETsquared announces winning student entrepreneurs from Surrey

Thursday 9 June 2011

These awards recognise the most promising entrepreneurs of the future and the best student enterprise ideas.

The showcase event in Bath brought together students from across the SETsquared partnership to recognise some of the best up and coming entrepreneurial talent in Southern England.  The winners were chosen from the 90,000 students at the five SETsquared member Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey.

Guillaume Devinat, a second year business management student at the University of Surrey, was named as best student start-up for his Guitar Lesson Lounge Ltd which was founded earlier this year to create the best on-line video guitar lessons.  With initial seed funding from the University’s Research and Enterprise Support office (RES), the business has achieved more than 100,000 views on YouTube, nearly 400 members and clients across four continents and has already generated a positive cash flow.  Guillaume was also named as the overall winner and will receive a year’s complimentary membership of the Entrepreneurs Circle – worth around £850.

“The level of support from the University was amazing and I couldn’t have achieved this without them, ” said Guillaume.

“I used to try to do everything with the business but now I am the leader and the marketer and I have really good people to help me.”

Aaron Mason and Georgios Michalakidis, who are both in their second year of a Computing PhD won the award for best graduate start-up with their new business venture – Thoughtified.  They have developed a web application ManagePlaces which uses GPS technology to remotely manage land, projects and customers in real time.  With predicted first year sales of £500,000, the team is working with clients ranging from Central Surrey Health and Government agency Natural England.

Commenting on their award, Georgios, said: “It was great to win but what we have achieved is mostly through hard work and using our own connections.  We feel very confident about the future but wouldn’t be here without the support of the University.”

Cameron Wilson, a second year economics student, was also named as the University of Surrey’s student enterprise champion for establishing Surrey Entrepreneurs, a student society focused on encouraging students to get involved with enterprise and with 800 members.

“The SETsquared universities have come together to give students extra options for their future. These awards recognise that the spirit of entrepreneurship is thriving in our universities,” said Keith Robson, Chairman of the SETsquared management group and RES Director at the University of Surrey.

“Starting your own company is not just a great experience for the students it is good for the economy too.   It was great to see some of Surrey’s talented young entrepreneurs get recognised for their achievements,” he said.

As well as being able to meet with young entrepreneurs from other universities, the showcase provided an opportunity for students to bring their entrepreneurial ideas to a wider business audience including investors and business mentors.

A full list of entries and video presentations can be found online.

The list of winners are:

• Best Student Start-up - GuitarLessonLounge - University of Surrey 
• Best Graduate Start-up - Thoughtified Ltd - University of Surrey 
• Best Student Enterprise Experience - SIFE Southampton - University of Southampton 
• Best Social Enterprise - Right Light - University of Southampton 
• Business Mentor of the Year - Gavin Eddy - University of Bath