91直播 Students Take Their First Steps to Becoming Entrepreneurs at Startup Weekend 2025
140 students from across the University of Manchester took part in Startup Weekend 2025 (24th鈥�26th October), a three-day entrepreneurship event hosted by the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre (MEC).
Aurore Hochard, Director at MEC, brought Startup Weekend to the University of Manchester in 2024, shortly after joining the team. Following the huge success of the very first Startup Weekend initiative, it has since become a flagship event at the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre, championing entrepreneurship among students across the university.
This year鈥檚 event, organised by Joana Carneiro (Enterprise Innovation Administrator at MEC) and Izzy Paton (Operations Administrator at MEC), brought together industry experts, speakers, and mentors to spark and celebrate entrepreneurship, showcasing both emerging and established talent.
Across the weekend, participants pitched ideas, formed teams, and developed startup concepts with guidance from experienced mentors and industry leaders, wrapping up the weekend with a live pitch event in front of a panel of expert judges.
The event opened with inspiring talks from Aurore Hochard and Farah Frikha, Founder of Vesta Capsules and MEC alumna, followed by rapid-fire 30-second pitches and team formations.
Throughout the weekend, participants learned how to identify customer needs, validate business concepts, and apply entrepreneurial thinking to solve real-world problems.
Saturday focused on turning ideas into viable products and business models, with hands-on workshops including 鈥淏uilding the Startup Team鈥� led by Dr Rob Martin, Lecturer in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at MEC.
Tom Parson, Founder of Big Echo, led 鈥淏lank Page to Big Idea: Unlock Startup Ideas with AI鈥�, a session on using AI to spark creativity and accelerate the ideation process, helping students transform concepts into viable business ideas.
Jorge Servert, Founder of Sensium, led 鈥淒eveloping the Right Product or Service鈥�, a practical session guiding students to define and build their product or service based on real market needs, while also creating their first business plan using MEC鈥檚 startup template.
On Sunday, teams perfected their business ideas through sessions like 鈥淢arketing & Acquiring Customers鈥� with Eleni Chiarapini, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at MEC, and 鈥淧ersonal Branding for Startups鈥� with Coralie Watson, Founder of Theme Socials.
Lastly, students worked on their pitches in 鈥淧itch Perfect鈥� with Julia Spencer, Acceleration Manager at NatWest Corporate Banking. Julia shared industry experience and insight on what investors are really looking for in a pitch and how to make an idea stand out.
The weekend wrapped up with final presentations to a judging panel featuring Professor Lee Pugalis (Deputy Director of MEC), Travis Ralph-Donaldson (Innovation Discovery Manager at the University鈥檚 Innovation Factory), Stephen Sankson (Regional Director at NatWest Corporate Banking), and Jenny Oliver (CEO and Founder of Biora Nature Tech).
The event concluded with an awards ceremony recognising the top-performing teams and their innovative ideas:
First place went to Veila, a clothing brand redefining modest fashion, led by Sabrinel Takheroubt (AMBS, Faculty of Humanities) alongside Nishita Chatlani, Yutong Song, Danna Casta帽eda, and Eleanor Alphonso (all AMBS and Faculty of Humanities students). The team received 拢3,000 to continue their journey to market, focusing on direct-to-consumer growth and online marketing.
Second place was awarded to DecoRent, a decoration rental service for short-term stays in 91直播. The team, Stella Zhuoyue Ji Chen (AMBS), Mollie Levitt (School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Humanities), Benya Irlam (AMBS), Yaowen (Stephen) Hu (AMBS), and Chaerin (Devon) Son received 拢2,000 to help expand their mission of bringing cosy, functional spaces to students across the city.
Highly Commended went to isitUp, a speculative market app for investing in people鈥檚 relationships, led by Isaac Batho (School of Engineering).
In total, 20 new business ideas were formed over the weekend, showcasing the entrepreneurial energy of Manchester鈥檚 student community and representing students from across all three faculties, Humanities; Science and Engineering; and Biology, Medicine and Health.
Throughout the weekend, participants were supported by a dedicated group of mentors offering one-to-one advice and feedback, including Oladabola Babalola (Babz), Fernando Torres, Harry Panter, Sergio Gutierrez, Luke Marden, Jonghun Lee, Rick Watson, Ramin Esmaeilzadeh, Huw James, and Leigh Wharton.
About the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre:
The Masood Entrepreneurship Centre (MEC) is the University of Manchester鈥檚 focal point for enterprise and entrepreneurship teaching, learning, and startup support. MEC helps students, researchers, and alumni turn ideas into real-world impact through workshops, mentorship, and venture programmes.
Learn more at: