After our successful two-day bootcamp, facilitated by our partners at Unloc in March, we welcomed this year’s Swan’s Den cohort back for the final on 23rd April 2024.
Sparkhouse was abuzz with the entrepreneurial spirit as the day saw nine student businesses pitch for funding in front of a varied panel of external entrepreneurs.
We were honoured to welcome three esteemed Lincoln business owners from different industries to join us on the panel: Jo Mason, mentor and founder of Propulsion Coaching; Kerry Gibson, owner of Rethread Denim; and Harry Conti, Director of Student Housing. Each student business had the opportunity to deliver a two-minute elevator pitch, followed by an in-depth Q&A session.
The range of ideas presented was truly impressive and diverse, spanning from digital startups to ventures in arts and drama, innovations in the spheres of marketing and design, and up-and-coming health and fitness technology. Every pitch showcased unique merits, making the judging process incredibly challenging.
However, after much deliberation, the winners were chosen:
Winner: Dead Space Project by Cat and Quinn
Dead Space Project is a sociocultural arts initiative aimed at revitalizing vacant shop units and buildings in Lincoln. Through vibrant exhibitions curated by local artists, Cat and Quinn’s project seeks to breathe new life into these spaces.
On winning the competition, Cat Anderson commented, “We are delighted to have won Swans Den 2024- the process was deeply encouraging, allowing us to develop our skills and networks in the weeks prior. We will leverage this money to deliver Project Dead Space – a continual programme of Art and creativity that temporarily reimages our city centre’s empty shop units”.
1st Runner up: Intrusive Events by Josh Hurt
Intrusive Events enhances Lincoln’s nightlife by organizing immersive music events in a range of genres that provide a platform for local upcoming DJs. After finishing as a close runner-up, Josh remarked,
“Swans Den has been an amazing experience all round. From the interactive workshops, to meeting other like-minded individuals, and the finale of pitching my business has given me some valuable experience to take away. I am extremely happy to have come 2nd place in the final as there were a lot of great other businesses to compete with! Now that I have won grant funding, it will allow to me totally take my business to the next level by being able to hire bigger venues, and book bigger headliner acts to aid Lincoln’s growing nightlife. I just want to thank everyone who has supported the brand for the past year to help grow Intrusive to what it is now. We have some big events coming later in the year so keep your eyes peeled on our socials!”
2nd Runner up: Panellus Labs by Aymen Retibi
Panellus Labs is a unique marketing agency that utilizes behavioural psychology to help small businesses in Lincoln revitalize their marketing strategies and optimize customer experiences.
On finishing third, Aymen had this to say about the competition:
“Swan’s Den was a great opportunity to showcase my current skills and to develop and hone my cash flow forecasting, business proposal, and pitching! Prior to Swan’s Den, I’d only pitched Panellus Labs once and it didn’t go so well… so to be able to have the chance to have support and invaluable feedback all along the way, really developed my ability and increased my confidence.
Although I didn’t win first place, I felt like I earned a lot of valuable feedback and experience, as well as making a few friends along the way. The opportunity to work alongside many other amazing student businesses really inspired me to go further and develop resilience in the hostile business world.
In terms of my third place prize, I’m looking to expand and scale my current services by developing a great website for clients to navigate through and to increase my content output to educate more business owners and marketers about behavioural science and it’s ingenious way of understanding and influencing consumers.
Stay tuned for more from Panellus Labs; we have big plans to make our custom target consumer model even more accurate and refined!”
The future looks bright for all the participating businesses, and we can’t wait to see how they grow and develop in the coming months. Congratulations to all the participants!
We were also pleased to have our judges provide feedback on the day, with Harry Conti, Director of Student Housing, remarking,
‘’The creativity and innovation shown by all students was remarkable, I was delighted to see the high quality of each pitch. It’s clear that these students have a bright future ahead, and I’m thrilled to have been part of an event that supports their entrepreneurial journey. I look forward to seeing these innovative ideas transform into successful businesses.’’
Dr Jo Mason, Founder of Propulsion Coaching, and returning judge from our 2023 competition, had this to say about the 2024 competition:
‘’What a fantastic day! Truly honoured to be part of the judging panel with such esteemed colleagues, and we were thoroughly spoilt with the pitches presented to us. A wide variety of business ideas, across multiple industries, each delivered with passion and a unique and authentic flair. The evolution of the boot camp this year revealed its true value both in the confidence of the students and the quality of their pitching… sterling work by the Enterprise Team. Each and every one of the participants stepped up to the challenge and absolutely delivered, making our job in deciding the prizes really tough… huge well done to all!’’
Finally, Kerry Gibson, Founder of Rethread Denim and Project Fashion Fixed, commented;
‘’It was an absolute pleasure to be part of the Swans Den competition this year. As a judge, I was lucky enough to watch all of the pitches. They were diverse, inspiring, and tackled multiple issues and opportunities that the students feel are important. The standard of all the pitches was very high; they surpassed my expectations. I leave the experience feeling hopeful for a future where these young, dynamic, intelligent students will be leaving university and taking action on some of their incredible plans.’’
With support, events and workshops continuing throughout the year, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at studententerprise@lincoln.ac.uk to find out how we can support your business idea.