Web Science CDT Alumni in semi-finals of prestigious entreprenuerial award

Web Science PhD student Gareth Beeston and first year Aeronautics and Astronautics student Connell McLaughlin pitched their startups to an audience at the University of Liverpool’s London campus earlier this month for the semi-final of the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards

Gareth, a Web Science and Open Innovation PhD student, who co-founded Other World Escapes, an immersive escape rooms business based in Southampton, has been working with the Student Enterprise Team within the University of Southampton Careers and Employability Service. He along with Connell have also benefited from mentoring, workshops and investment opportunities from our on-campus Future Worlds startup accelerator.

Santander’s annual business pitching competition offers a financial boost to early stage student and graduate business ventures from UK partner universities. Each year, the University’s Student Enterprise Team and Future Worlds mentors select two exceptional entrepreneurs from Southampton to represent the University. This summer, both Connell and Gareth were shortlisted for the semi-final but have not been selected to progress to the national final.