University Alliance will hold a celebration of the emerging business talent among students at the University of Salford at its MediaCityUK campus on Thursday 14 June.
Enterprise Stars will culminate in the opportunity to win investment from a panel of investors. The festival also includes opportunities for networking, mentoring, showcasing ideas and advice and support on how to convert a great business idea into reality.
Twelve Alliance universities have confirmed their participation in this year’s event. Each will submit one entry to pitch a business idea at Enterprise Stars 2018 – either an individual or a group – in June. Students from participating universities – studying any subject – can take part.
Collectively, University Alliance members account for 40% of successful graduate start-ups, employing 8,000 people and generating £172m in annual turnover.
University Alliance Chief Executive Maddalaine Ansell said:
“Alliance universities put innovation and enterprise at the heart of our teaching. By supporting fledging ideas, we help new businesses to succeed – building future prosperity.
“The Enterprise Stars competition gives our students the opportunity to take their business ideas to the national stage. Those taking part in last year’s pilot event told us how their skills and self-confidence grew through the challenge and as a result of the feedback they received. They valued not just the chance to secure investment, but to connect with mentors willing to share first-hand experience and advice.”
Notes for Editors
- The 12 Alliance universities taking part in Enterprise Stars 2018 are: University of Brighton, University of Central Lancashire, Coventry University, University of Greenwich, University of Hertfordshire, Kingston University, Liverpool John Moores University, Nottingham Trent University, Oxford Brookes University, University of Portsmouth, University of Salford and UWE Bristol.
- Visit the new Enterprise Stars website hub for further details about the showcase and festival at www.unialliance.ac.uk/enterprisestars or join in the conversation on Twitter at #EnterpriseStars
- Data on graduate start-ups taken from HE Business and Community Interaction Survey 2015/16 by HESA: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/publications/hebci-2015-16
