Entrepreneurs from UCL, King's College London and Imperial College London will be pitching their innovative startups to a group of international angels and investors, in the hope of raising between £100,000 and £1million plus, each at this year's London Demo Day.
As part of the "Dragon's Den" style event, each university will nominate five student startups currently in the early growth stage, from their own entrepreneurship hubs, including UCL's Hatchery at BaseKX, King's20 Accelerator and Imperial Enterprise Lab.
On 15 September 2021, the businesses will pitch to leading investors, partners and alumni, drawn from the collective communities of the universities and from the wider London ecosystem. There will also be the opportunity for investors to network with the founders in small, closed groups.
Professor David Price, UCL Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), said: "UCL is delighted to be hosting this year's London Demo Day where the top early-stage startups from three of London's leading universities look to make an impact on the world. This dynamic event importantly connects people with amazing ideas to the investment community. It also celebrates the role that universities play in generating startups, developing entrepreneurism and supporting the successful translation of knowledge and ideas to improve society and the economy. I congratulate the 15 startups from across UCL, King's College London and Imperial College London that will be showcased at the event and wish them every success for the future.'
This is the second London Demo Day after the inaugural event took place in 2019 and attracted an audience of around 400 people.
The ventures being promoted cover a range of sectors from HRTech to EdTech, Hardware and Social Impact, representing the huge breadth of the businesses being created at the universities and their potential to change and define the world around them.
During the past five years over 550 startups have been founded at UCL, King's College London and Imperial College London, attracting an impressive £387million of external investment.
Notable businesses from the first London Demo Day, include Jelly Drops, which are treats used to hydrate people with dementia, Pluvo, a street structure that removes harmful pollutants from city air, OBRIZUM, which aims to use AI to redefine the future of corporate digital learning, and UCL startup, Worldlabs, a digital ecosystem helping organisations to achieve innovation faster.
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Co-founder of Worldlabs, Andreas Feller-Ryf, who is now a mentor at UCL's Hatchery, says: "We enjoyed the atmosphere and community spirit of the London Demo Day very much. It was well organised and gave us good exposure in the London startup ecosystem.
"Since taking part in 2019, Worldlabs has grown considerably with clients all across Europe, North and South America.
"It's a great experience and I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to get noticed in the London startup and investor community."
This year, those following Worldlab's lead, include companies such as UCL's Trears, an earwax test which can be used to reveal stress levels, King's College's Pitch Me, a skills-based talent platform to help people find jobs and Neucruit, which is a UCL and Imperial College London supported startup, and uses technology to help in the recruitment and engagement of patients in clinical trials.
Jerry Allen, Director for Entrepreneurship, UCL Innovation & Enterprise, said: "In a post-Covid era, university student and graduate innovators are motivated by change, solving social and technical challenges and sustainability in all contexts.
"Their ideas are fundamentally about positively challenging systems and delivering long-standing change and impact.
"London Demo Day is a perfect example of deep collaboration created for a vibrant network of global investors, to bring new investment in innovation to London, UK and beyond."
This year the event will be held online on 15th
