Member Article

‘Graduation ceremony’ for Searchcamp teams

A ‘graduation ceremony’ has taken place for teams of entrepreneurs who have taken part in a unique business accelerator programme at Teesside University.

The six teams from Searchcamp pitched their ideas and products in front of nearly 100 investors and business leaders at an Investor Demo Day at the University’s Centuria Building.

The Investor Demo Day marked the finale of the 12 week programme which saw the businesses, from as far afield as Spain, Romania and Italy, live and work on campus while they developed their product.

Searchcamp, a partnership between North-East investors and Teesside University, gave the startups up to £15,000 of seed capital and intensive mentoring and workshops with internationally-renowned speakers in return for a small stake in their company.

Using ‘lean startup’ principles the six teams have now developed market-ready products which range from a social networking site for cats to a mobile dating app.

The Investor Demo Day was an opportunity to showcase the companies and show how they have developed over the last 12 weeks and also attract investment.

Professor Cliff Hardcastle, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Business Engagement), said: “Searchcamp is a reflection of the entrepreneurial spirit of this University, we’re always looking for opportunities to generate new businesses and this has been an amazing experience.

“It’s been a tremendous success and some wonderful companies have come out of it and it’s something we want to continue to support.

“I anticipate that many of these companies will be hugely successful and generate significant income for themselves and their shareholders.

“This event is effectively the graduation ceremony for these young businesses and they can count themselves not just graduates of this programme but effectively alumni of this University.”

Bobby Paterson, the Programme Director for Searhcamp, added: “This has been an incredible learning experience for everybody involved.

“We set out to be the best we can be and I believe we have achieved that.

“It’s very important that we work together to build a startup ecosystem for Teesside.

“Relationships are vital and to build the region to be successful we need to work together in this manner.”

Some of the teams taking part will now move to the Searchcampus at Middlesbrough’s Boho zone.

Another Investor Demo Day is due to take place on 19 September at Campus, a co-working space for startups, powered by Google, in the heart of East London’s Tech City.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .