Strathclyde Business School student Rebecca Pick was runner up in the pitching stage of the Converge Challenge. As one of the top 30, she now goes on to the next stage in the competition which requires them to complete a robust business plan before they are shortlisted to just 10.
The Elevator Pitch process is arguably the most daunting element of the Converge Challenge. Intensive business mentoring and training has been completed and participants now have 130 pairs of eyes upon them as 30 ideas are delivered in a 'magic minute' - just 60 seconds to influence a panel of expert judges made up of Alister Minty from the Entrepreneur Business School ; Gordon Stark, Chief Operations Officer, Edinburgh, of Murgitroyd; Alex Tait, partner at Baker Tilly; and Eleanor Mitchell, High Growth Ventures Director at Scottish Enterprise.
Rebecca's idea has been created with personal safety for women very much in mind - Personal Guardian has the potential to revolutionise the personal attack alarm market. This product is discreet (worn on a bra strap) and is activated through smart phone technology to a receiving station who can pass the GPS location to the police. The device can even record proximity sounds for use as evidence in court.
All eyes are now on the Top 30 as they move on to the next stage. Once they are whittled down to 10, an external judging panel will then choose which 6 concepts go through to The Converge Challenge final on September 29 at the Barony Hall at the University of Strathclyde.
The Converge Challenge 2015 Top 30 finalists are split by category – Converge Challenge and KickStart/Social Enterprise. Veronica Ferguson, Enterprise Outreach Manager, Converge Challenge commented on the entries saying, "This is the sixth year for the Converge Challenge programme and I am delighted to see a growing mix of projects coming forward from across Scotland as the competition acts as a beacon for entrepreneurship. This year Converge Challenge is bigger than ever with dedicated training provided to over 60 budding entrepreneurs and record total funding pot of £100,000+ in cash and business support.
"Sifting the 186 entries into the top 30 in each category was quite a challenge for the judging panel with such strong competition this year. We’d like to congratulate all those who have progressed through to the next phase and commend all those who entered. We were inspired by the breadth of the ideas submitted this year!"
As well as Rebecca, there are a number of other Strathclyders in the challenge, including business school students Michael McGuire, Ross Henderson (Lifeline Applications), Scott Kennedy (Revive), and Olga Szewczyk (Smoove).