INSIGHTS / Blog

A care monitoring app, an app to explain the news, and a platform for patients to communicate their wellbeing to carers were just some of the ideas pitched at this year’s 3 Day Start-Up (3DS) event for budding student entrepreneurs. From over 300 applications, 50 of the most promising undergrad and postgrad students from across the five SETsquared Universities were selected to take part. The event ran over 3 days between 19th – 21st October at the University of Surrey.

The concept for 3DS was created by the University of Texas and is now run as a not for profit enterprise, with events taking place at universities around the globe. The programme has given rise to 100s of companies that have cumulatively received over $150 million in funding.The 50 students who took part all came along armed with a business idea, and then over a brainstorm session the six strongest ideas were chosen to form teams around. One of the key benefits of the event was that each team was cross disciplinary and cross university – so everybody benefitted from new expertise and ideas.

Once the concepts have been chosen, the programme takes the students through workshops on the lean canvass, understanding the customer, business model development with mentoring and then a final pitch session on the Sunday afternoon with feedback from judges. SETsquared Student Enterprise Chair, Siobain Hone said: “This is the third year SETsquared have run the 3DS programme and it’s proving to be an invaluable way to allow students to collaborate and connect over shared goals.

This year we were delighted to be joined by previous participants, Max Beech and Tom Phipps, who have already secured funding for their connections app, Intro. It’s fantastic to see business ideas developed at previous 3DS flourish, it shows that it’s an effective springboard and catalyst to get student’s business ideas off the ground. Here’s an overview of the six business ideas that were worked on:

• Indicare – an IoT platform that offers simple, personalised real-time monitoring of loved ones in hospice care
• MindMatters – a platform where a patient can easily and reliably communicate their mental wellbeing to caretakers
• Pub- a gamified, city-wide drinking game where you can win a free pint
• Meal Prep 101 – An app to buy and deliver recipe ingredients to your door
• Explain the News – A platform for concise, easy to understand news with a minimal and transparent bias, and no agenda
• Choices – Solving problems of plastic waste

SETsquared will be running 3 Day Startup next October at the University of Southampton.