TALENTED Southampton entrepreneurs claimed a number of awards at an enterprise awards show.
The annual SETsquared event featured students and graduate businesses from Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Surrey and Southampton competing for awards.
Organisers hope to discover the Richard Bransons and Duncan Bannatynes of the future and no fewer than three entries from the University of Southampton took home prizes.
SanEco won the Game Changer Social Enterprise section, while DividaBill was crowned Best Graduate Enterprise and Metix Ltd came first in the Best Student Enterprise category.
Peter Street, marketing director of Metix Ltd, was delighted to have scooped the award.
He said: “It is a huge honour to be voted the people’s choice out of all of the companies that were pitching.
“Choosing entrepreneurship as a career path may seem daunting to some university students but there is so much support out there from organisations such as SETsquared, the University of Southampton and Fish on Toast, the university’s entrepreneurial society.
“Their advice and mentoring has helped us get our business off the ground and I’d urge any young person with a good business idea to take the leap and go for it.”
Metix Ltd is a medical technology company that is working on the development of a robust handheld digital signs monitor, whereas SanEco aims to power communities using sanitation and DividaBill provides a service to help students manage their bills.
Jonathan Akass and Michael Austin from Dividabill.
David Bream, director of SETsquared at the University of Southampton, said the event showcased the city’s finest business minds.
He said: “There is so much entrepreneurial talent in Southampton and we are immensely proud of all our students and graduates who pitched at the event.
“They have some fantastic business ideas with the potential to develop into even bigger companies that generate wealth and jobs for the local economy.”
During the evening there were speeches from local business leaders including Max Toti, managing director and chief technology officer of Captec Ltd, who gave guests advice on how to become a successful entrepreneur.
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