SBS graduates pitch - and win - at Inspire 100
Eight ventures pitched at the recent Strathclyde's Inspire 100 on November 19 with several Strathclyde Business School graduates featuring at the event which focuses on entrepreneurial ideas.
Two business school graduates who together founded Velocity Edge were selected as prizewinners, receiving funding from Santander Universities.
Callum Samuel and Josh Duncan are the founders of Velocity Edge, a digital platform bringing lubricant procurement online for the first time. Using AI to simplify sourcing, they’re tackling an industry still dominated by slow, offline processes and introducing transparency, instant pricing and smart recommendations.
Callum, who studied International Business with Business Enterprise, and Josh who studied International Business, received £5,000 from Santander Universities after pitching to a panel of judges, comprising Clara Baltay, PXN Ventures Scotland; Peter Silver, The Scottish National Investment Bank, and Louise Mackie, Foresight Group.
The evening opened with remarks from Strathclyde Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen McArthur, while Scott Black, CEO and co-founder of Seluna Ltd, hosted the event. With Inspire 100, start-up and spinout opportunities at Strathclyde are given the chance to present their companies to an audience of entrepreneurs, potential investors and supporters, gaining valuable feedback, making contacts and raising their profile across the entrepreneurial community.
Other business school alumni to pitch at the event included postgraduate alumni Rakshit Jain and Simran Taneja. They are founders of Finwise School, an edtech platform making financial literacy engaging and accessible through gamified learning, real-life simulations and interactive bootcamps. They’re working with individuals, schools and universities to build financial confidence for all ages.
Andrew Menzies is an undergraduate alumnus – he and Richard Menzies are creators of Openbook Analytics, an AI co-pilot for retail investors. Their platform turns complex market data into simple, actionable insights - helping everyday investors analyse stocks in minutes, not hours. They are planning to launch in 2026 with a growing student user base.
Congratulations to all the winners:
£11k to Chelsea Jarvie, founder of Neon Guard (5k from Santander Universities, 5k from the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award, and 1k from the People’s Choice Award donated by The RACS Foundation)
£10k to Alexandre Trubert-Paneli and Kimia Witte from 3B Biotech (5k from Santander Universities and 5k from the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award)
£5k to Callum Samuel and Josh Duncan, founders of Velocity Edge (5k from Santander Universities)
Published: 20 November 2025
