The winners, selected from a competitive pool of applicants, will use the Summer Creators Grant to bring their Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) to life.
The Grant, offered by Emerge: Be Enterprising, aims to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within the University of Sheffield community. Santander Universities provided financial backing to encourage students to tackle industry challenges creatively through the development of tangible product ideas.
The winners represent ideas from a diverse range of disciplines with each business being evaluated on innovation, feasibility, and potential impact.
For this time of the year, we were delighted to receive so many high-quality applications. All entries were analysed on the design concepts and financial plan for spending the money. We'll be supporting the teams over the summer to develop their ideas and to connect them with industry mentors. The teams will be presenting their product development progress at one of our workshops in October - all are welcome to come and listen to their journey so far.
Matthew Charlton
Enterprise Manager
Congratulations to the winning businesses:
Team Ruqaya
By creating independence through self-learning opportunities, their product is designed to help blind and visually impaired children to learn to read through touch. Filling a crucial gap in the market, Moon Letters are a unique alphabet designed for tactile identification - setting a foundation for lifelong literacy and independence.
New to the Emerge community, Team Ruqaya applied for the funding following a departmental email. If you're working on an idea, look out for further opportunities this year and you could be next to receive funding for your big idea!
Portal Zero
Engineered for adventure, Portal Zero's vision is to be leaders in the disruption of off-grid technology. The team have created a revolutionary DC induction hub for campervans, enabling sustainable cooking for eco-adventurers.
This award is a game-changer for us at PortalZero. It gives us the chance to bring our prototype to life and begin the crucial testing phase. We're excited to see our ideas take shape and are grateful for the support that makes this possible.
Nayden
Senior Machanical Engineer
Nasalyzer
Breath, sniff, detect. The Nasalyzer is the newest screening medical device to revolutionize gastric cancer screening. Compared to traditional methods, the innovative technique is cost-effective, non-invasive, easy to use and accessible for an early diagnosis.
The Summer Creators Grant is just one of the many initiatives offered by Emerge to support student entrepreneurship. The program provides a range of resources, including mentorship, workshops, and networking opportunities, to help students develop their business ideas and launch successful ventures.
The Emerge 2024/2025 programme of activities will be released at the start of September.
