AN ANNUAL competition for potential Oxford entrepreneurs relaunched on Tuesday, offering a substantial cash prize that could total millions of pounds.
Last year’s winners of Oxford Entrepreneurs’ ‘Idea Idol’ competition were given a blank cheque and offered access to millions of pounds of private funding after impressing a group of venture capitalists.
Sheena Amin, a St Peter’s second-year running the event, said she hoped the competition would encourage students to develop original business ideas.
“The competition is a way to promote an entrepreneurial mindset among its members, and the idea behind it is to encourage people to think of creative ideas which they can then transform into a viable business. We want to make it as accessible as possible for undergraduates, too, as last year it was hard for them to compete with MBAs who already had a lot of business experience,” Amin said.
Over 200 applicants entered the 2006 competition, which promises substantial financial backing and professional business mentoring for the group with the most innovative idea.
Entrants have to write a 100-word summary of their idea, with the top 25 shortlisted for consideration. The second round involves writing a detailed business model before the final eight face a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style panel of successful entrepreneurs.
The commencement of this year’s competition was marked by a drinks party last Tuesday and an official launch at the Said Business School. Guest speakers included BBC2 ‘Dragons’ Den’ winner Imran Hakim and Nick Jenkins, founder of stationery company ‘Moonpig’.
Last year’s winning team included Christ Church DPhil student Tom Whitfield, whose team impressed judges with their plan to sell online time capsules through the website www.miomi.com.
Whitfield said, “We won ‘Idea Idol’ in February…I think it’s really great to have a platform to encourage students to become entrepreneurs. You have the opportunity to work with a really smart team and the overall set-up is a trendy yet cutting-edge environment.”
Competition launched for young entrepreneurs
