Hospital navigation tool wows the dragons
Monday 15 May 2017
A TEAM of students who have designed a system to help people navigate inside hospitals and other large buildings tamed the dragons and won cash as part of a national competition.
Some of the best young entrepreneurs from across the country gathered at MediaCityUK to try to impress potential investors as the University of Salford played host to a Dragons’ Den style competition featuring eleven Universities of the University Alliance group.
Innovating Future Business #IFB17 pitted students against each other as they tried to impress five angel investors to part with their cash and expertise.
And Pathways, a team of students from University of Salford Business School, claimed one of the top prizes. Several of the team work for the NHS and they came up with a new idea to help people find their way to hospital appointments, which could save the service a great deal of time and money. Pathways will also aid communication between hospitals and patients.
Team leader Zahid Tapas, 21, who gave the winning pitch, said: “This is a great opportunity for us. We were going up against teams who had been working on their ideas for three years or more, so to be doing so well so quickly is great.
“It was pretty nerve wracking to present in front of such a large audience at MediaCityUK but our passion for the project came out to the investors so they could see what our idea and plans are.
“The competition gave us a platform and experience that not many students have, so we are lucky to have this opportunity.”
Manchester investor, Internet entrepreneur Gareth Hoyle saw the potential in the idea and awarded his top prize on the day as well as his support and expertise.
Zahid continued: “There were a few tricky questions after our presentation but I could tell he was interested. He said to us he sees great scalability as we can move from hospitals to airports and shopping malls. We are going for a meeting with him in the next few weeks to see how we might be able to improve the product. It is exciting times for us.”
There was a prize pool of £5,000 but also the chance to gain vital future investment should the dragons be suitably impressed. Other universities also claimed prizes on the day.
Event organiser Alex Fenton, lecturer in digital business at the University of Salford, said: “It was a great day, with loads of good business ideas. Pathways have got a great idea and deserved their win. They have worked so hard on getting their business off the ground in only a few short weeks. It was a really valuable experience for them and gives them great experience for the future. This competition is just one example of the real world experiences we give to students at Salford.”
The event was part of the Salford’s Industrial Collaboration Zone strategy, which aims to work closely with business to ensure graduates leave Salford with skills needed for them to thrive in whatever career they choose. The University of Salford is committed to developing students and graduates' business ideas and they have a dedicated enterprise team available that works collaboratively across the university to ensure success, and this help is available to our graduates for life.
The universities taking part are all members of the University Alliance and included Huddersfield, Coventry, Liverpool John Moores, Portsmouth and UCLAN, as well as a team from Salford. The business ideas ranged from new, portable style gym equipment, a company that wants to create environmental blinds and a new computer gaming studio.
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Sam Wood
0161 295 5361
