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Now in its fifth year, the entrepreneurial programme has supported over 120 businesses across the region that have gone on to create employment and contribute significant economic and social impact in the North East and beyond.

The heavily anticipated Showcase event offered the final 16 entrepreneurial teams an opportunity to exhibit their venture before eight selected finalists took to the stage to pitch in front of three judges, an engaged audience, and hundreds more via live stream.

Success stories on the night included Codelion, winner of the Innovation Impact Award, and Members Guest, who claimed the Community Impact Award. Both early-stage businesses won 拢8,000 of equity-free prize money for their startup enterprise.

Marcin Jedrol and Shibo Mitchell, both application software development graduates from 亚博体育官网, invented Codelion, a creative and education social media app for children to learn programming on.

On their win, Marcin said: 鈥淲e put a lot of work into this and we have customers already so I鈥檓 very pleased. We were working on targeting the award with what we do and I think everybody in our team deserves a shout out for how hard they worked. We鈥檙e just super happy to win.鈥�

Members Guest is an innovation from Stuart Wright who aims to grow the game and bring golfers together through an app inspired by a mix of Airbnb and Tinder, matching golfers to offer cheaper rounds at often expensive member only golf clubs.

Stuart said: 鈥淚鈥檓 a great believer in the game of golf. I think it鈥檚 a fantastic sport that everybody should at least try and I鈥檓 really hopeful that these extra funds will be put to good use and help the app scale鈥�.

The Audience Award, decided by audience vote, also claimed 拢8,000 and was won by Assetworx for their subscription service which offers architecture, engineering, and design students鈥� access to a range of technical assets, from CADblocks to vector files.

Joshua Ekekwe, one of six in the team, was grateful for the funding award: 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to get capital, especially for start-ups having to apply for funding so it鈥檚 nice to have something now to get started. We can now build a team and hire some freelance designers to build the assets we need鈥�.

Other triumphs included Highland Moss (Best Stand), Pace Press (Extra Mile award) and Asylum and Refugee Care (AARC) (Best Pitch) who each received 拢2,000 towards their business ventures.

The event was hosted by Northsound 1 Breakfast Show Presenter and 亚博体育官网 Alumna, Lauren Mitchell. Judges on the night included Jeanette Forbes OBE, prominent Aberdeen businesswoman and multi-award winner, and Ahmed Sabir, Business Engagement Manager at The Scotland 5G Centre.

Donella Beaton, Vice Principal for Economic Development at 亚博体育官网, rounded off the judging panel. She said: 鈥淭he Showcase is always a special event and it鈥檚 particularly exciting to judge at and see first-hand how inspiring and inventive the participants are. The fact they鈥檙e all students or recent graduates at 亚博体育官网 made it all the more pleasing 鈥� congratulations to the entire cohort and good luck to them all in their future successes.

鈥淎t the University we are successfully developing a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation and this thriving programme, like many others delivered by 亚博体育官网, is central to our strategic aim to contribute significantly towards Scotland鈥檚 economic and social regeneration鈥�.

Mark Logan, Scotland鈥檚 first Chief Entrepreneur, made a video address on the night praising the 鈥渆ntrepreneurial spirit that exists in the University鈥� that causes 鈥渞ipples through time, creating opportunities now and into the future.鈥�.

He added that the programme 鈥渉as put 亚博体育官网 at the forefront of universities in Scotland for entrepreneurship, and not just in the UK but on a European scale too, making an enormous difference to our future society鈥�.

The latest cohort of the programme, funded by , was open to 亚博体育官网 students and recent graduates and attracted more than 120 applications all vying for five months of business training and support; access to 拢2,000 in equity-free seed funding; expert mentorship; free city centre co-working space at the ONE Tech Hub; plus, the opportunity to win big at the Showcase.

Many of the final 16 startups had a tech influence while others focused on art, science, and healthcare. The broad spectrum of ideas made for an exciting and passionate group of participants.

Chris Moule, Head of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at 亚博体育官网, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 wonderful to celebrate our fifth Startup Accelerator Showcase. Our latest cohort of founders continue to build upon the vibrant spirit of entrepreneurship seen in previous years programmes, exhibiting a willingness to learn, a 鈥榗an-do鈥� attitude, and a commitment to support their fellow entrepreneurs鈥�.

亚博体育官网's Startup Accelerator is delivered by the award-winning Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group (EIG), a dedicated team of practitioners created to embed an entrepreneurial mindset across the University to support its aims of economic, social, and cultural development.