Seven South West entrepreneurs have been named winners in the Young Innovator Award winners, by Innovate UK and The Prince’s Trust.
The winners from the South West are among 64 inspiring young people who will receive a £5,000 grant, one-on-one business coaching and an allowance to cover living costs as they pursue business ideas from the creation of biochar to the development of prosthetic limbs.
The Young Innovators Awards recognises young people from across the UK with great business ideas who have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs and future leaders in innovation. There has been an 87% increase in applications year-on-year and recent research shows more than a third of 18 to 34 year-olds want to launch an independent enterprise in 2021, compared to 28% of 35 to 54 year olds.
This year, 49% of the winners are female; nearly a third are Black, Asian or from an ethnic minority background; 17% have a disability and the projects cover all regions across the UK.
The South West winners
Kieran Devlin, 23, Revive Innovations, Bristol
Kieran wants to reduce the impact of waste materials on the environment. His company creates innovative materials and products to recycle waste CDs, DVDs, games and software discs.
Charlotte Hawkins, 25, Earthly Biochar, Appledore, North Devon
Charlotte co-founded Earthly Biochar after designing the first domestic biochar kiln for eco-conscious gardeners. Biochar improves soil health, increases crop yields and is a form of carbon storage. Charlotte aims to set up the UK’s first carbon-negative biochar production facilities to turn ‘waste’ wood into biochar.
Alaya Holloway, 20, FirstGens, Bristol
Alaya is a first-generation student and wants to help others who are the first in their family to go to university. Her company FirstGens aims to boost social mobility in the UK and support diversity and inclusion within higher education and professional establishments.
Diana Kviatkovskaja, 30, Chisel Robotics, Bristol
Diana has created a state-of-the-art wearable device and an app, that can be used with any prosthetic leg for lower limb amputees. This will eventually allow an amputee to have maximum control over their mobility and quality of life.
Ilham Said, 23, Engineer 2 Engineer, Bristol
Engineer 2 Engineer is a fast-growing peer-to-peer communication platform which generates analytics-driven feedback and provides targeted support for students. Within eight months the platform has already grown to support over 700 students and academics.
Jake Street, 22, Bristol
Jake is developing an app, to be installed on children’s devices, which is able to identify social attacks such as cyberbullying, grooming and exposure to distressing content.
William Testeil, 23, Bristol
William is creating the first mobile app specifically designed to help families improve their well-being in a fun and simple way. The Family Well-being app will help children and parents collectively keep healthy, while spending more quality time together.
Details on all 64 Young Innovators can found here. If you’re an inspiring young innovator, check out how Innovate UK could support you here:
