Spark Impact
Report 2022
Making a world of difference
to student enterprise.
No one could have believed the impact that the pandemic, Brexit, and unrest in the world would have had on business, the economy and people’s lives.”
The day we closed the doors to our offices, said our goodbyes to our colleagues and students with a cheery “see you in a couple of weeks”, who would have predicted it would be over two years later that we would return to campus.
But return we have, and with gusto!
Enterprise at the University of Leeds is thriving again. The businesses we support have ridden out the storm, with much assistance from our generous alumni, Spark alumni and local business donors who have helped future proof our ventures. The students continue to inspire us with their ideas, drive and ambition. Their concepts to help the environment, inform government policy, make societal impact and change people's lives is truly humbling and impressive.
And the future looks bright for enterprise too. A new digital and enterprise accelerator on campus will incorporate a central focal point for our aspiring entrepreneurs, bringing innovation and creativity together under one roof. An exciting fund for high growth ventures, in association with alumni groups, will be introduced. And our unique Enterprise Scholarships Bootcamp will return face-to-face at the end of the year.
Our Impact Report this year highlights not only some of our current incubator businesses, but also recognises a few of our immensely successful Spark ventures such as Lad Bible Group floating on the Stock Exchange, and Zeelo's $100m buy-in over in the US. But there are other notable global success stories not mentioned in this year's report: Jigtalk's collaboration with the Dallas Cowboys, Too Good to Go operating in many countries across the world, Form+ making a huge success in western Africa, 6 Degree Networks making an impact in the creative industries in India, and the Chairman's Bao disrupting the media sector in Asia.
So to all of the Spark supporters, a massive thank you from us. Your continuing involvement is invaluable and the difference you make to our students and graduates' lives is impressive. The donations you kindly and most generously gift really does make a difference ….. just take a look at the article on LURA, the Leeds University Rocketry Association.
We are now not just local, regional, national or global. Spark really has gone intergalactic!
Kairen Skelley
Head of Business Start-Up
University of Leeds
Economic Impact
The economic impact of Spark supported Businesses throughout 2021 and 2022.
External Leveraged Funding
Revenue Generated
Jobs Created
Spark Business Incubator Residents
Business Start-ups
Start-up Visa Recipients
Ownership Breakdown
The ownership breakdown of Spark businesses throughout 2021 and 2022.
Click on a segment to discover more.
40%
Technology & Digital
Faculty Breakdown
Breakdown by faculty of Spark businesses throughout 2021 and 2022.
Arts, Humanities & Cultures
Medicine & Health
Engineering and Physical Sciences
Education, Social Sciences & Law
Earth & Environment
Biological Sciences
Leeds University Business School
Spark Businesses
The economic impact of Spark businesses throughout 2021 and 2022.
LURA
Technology and Innovation
Coastal CAD Tech
Technology and Innovation
Spark Special Recognition Prize Winner
The Egalitarian
Social Impact
Reveal My Food
Social Impact
2nd Prize Trading Winner
Unid Books
Student Focussed
Nick Howard Prize Winner
2Sway
Student Focussed
Spark Special Recognition Prize Winner
Arrowtown Drinks
Product Development
2nd Prize Pre Trading Winner
Freaky Fish
Product Development
FJE Design
Creativity in Business
3rd Prize Trading Winner
Citric Design
Creativity in Business
Lewis Colley and Chris Terry
Environmental Impact
Microneedle Patches
Healthcare Impact
1st Prize Trading Winner
KR Relocations Group
First Place Winners
1st Prize Pre Trading Winner
Motive
First Place Winners
LURA
Technology and Innovation
Coastal CAD Tech
Technology and Innovation
Spark Special Recognition Prize Winner
The Egalitarian
Social Impact
Reveal My Food
Social Impact
2nd Prize Trading Winner
Unid Books
Student Focussed
Nick Howard Prize Winner
2Sway
Student Focussed
Spark Special Recognition Prize Winner
Arrowtown Drinks
Product Development
2nd Prize Pre Trading Winner
Freaky Fish
Product Development
FJE Design
Creativity in Business
3rd Prize Trading Winner
Citric Design
Creativity in Business
Lewis Colley and Chris Terry
Environmental Impact
Microneedle Patches
Healthcare Impact
1st Prize Trading Winner
KR Relocations Group
First Place Winners
1st Prize Pre Trading Winner
Motive
First Place Winners
LURA
Technology and Innovation
Coastal CAD Tech
Technology and Innovation
Spark Special Recognition Prize Winner
The Egalitarian
Social Impact
Reveal My Food
Social Impact
2nd Prize Trading Winner
Unid Books
Student Focussed
Nick Howard Prize Winner
2Sway
Student Focussed
Spark Special Recognition Prize Winner
Arrowtown Drinks
Product Development
2nd Prize Pre Trading Winner
Freaky Fish
Product Development
FJE Design
Creativity in Business
3rd Prize Trading Winner
Citric Design
Creativity in Business
Lewis Colley and Chris Terry
Environmental Impact
Microneedle Patches
Healthcare Impact
1st Prize Trading Winner
KR Relocations Group
First Place Winners
1st Prize Pre Trading Winner
Motive
First Place Winners
Recognised Spark Business
Business Plan Competition Award Winner
PREV
NEXT
Creatives Workshop Series
One thing the pandemic did throw up was a motivation for students and recent graduates to try their hand at running their own business and many of our creatives decided to go freelance. In response, Spark set up a comprehensive support structure which would give them the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed with their creative practices.
A range of highly practical workshops, a 24/7 online resource, access to 1-2-1 business advice and a peer-to-peer networking group, coupled with ongoing support from the extended Spark team of professional consultants, provided a robust initiative leading to a significant number of new creative ventures formed.
Our creative alumni businesses and faculty partners were instrumental in delivering the workshops, covering topics such as ideation, values and aims, planning for success, pricing and intellectual property and our sincere thanks go to them for their continued support.
Creative Freelancers Workshop with alumni creative businesses Buttercrumble and Tell Studios.
Enterprise Scholarships
An Enterprise Scholarship is an alumni supported scholarship for current students that comes with a £3,000 grant and a programme of tailored business support.
The Scholarship is unlike most other scholarships in that this is an opportunity to develop a business idea through a programme which is entirely based around the practical elements of business start-up rather than the traditional academic and sporting scholarships.
Enterprise Scholars are awarded a place on an intensive business boot camp and are automatically eligible to take advantage of the on-campus Spark incubation space. Moreover, access to business advisers, accountants, lawyers and other business professionals is available to the Enterprise Scholars throughout the year.
MixTab
Max Wilkinson & Ben Evans
Bloem
Haozin Ali
KerbPoint
Dragos Popa
Business Plan Competition
The University’s 2022 Business Plan Competition captured the interest of a record number of aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, including the highest ever number of women entering the competition.
This annual competition awards prizes in two main categories: Pre-trading and Trading up to 24 months, with the winners of each receiving a cash prize of £2,000. Altogether, the total of prizes awarded this year stands at £10,000.
“We’re always incredibly impressed by the high calibre of entries we receive from our enterprising students and graduates,” says Kairen Skelley, Spark’s Head of Business Start-Up. “The brilliant business plans we judged this year were from individuals across all faculties, leading to a diverse mix of applications, and this competition allows us to shine a spotlight on their talent and show just what’s possible.
“In addition, this year’s competition attracted a record number of entries from women. These female entrepreneurs are role models for the many other University students, from all backgrounds, who are looking to start and grow their own businesses.
“It gets harder and harder to select overall winners, and this year we awarded an additional Special Recognition prize to two further start-ups that rightfully deserved to be acknowledged.”
1st Prize Trading Winner
KR Relocations Group
Harkiran Dhillon
First place in the trading category was won by Harkiran Dhillon, a third-year student studying Business Management. Harkiran set up her business, KR Relocations Group Ltd, in August last year, helping contractors and professionals by providing high quality serviced accommodation in the Leeds area.
Harkiran is really excited and confident about the future of her business, and hopes to stay in touch with Spark once she graduates later this year. “From a young age, I’ve always wanted to be my own boss. The pandemic brought so much disruption, but it also fired the desire to be creative and inspirational, so I thought why not use this time to bring my entrepreneurial ideas to life and set up a new business!
“With an interest in property and real estate, I had the idea to connect with individuals and organisations that needed to quickly accommodate large numbers of staff for projects across the UK. The prize fund gave me a vital injection of money so I’ve been able to move my business forwards much faster than planned. And through Spark, I’m grateful to have access to a huge network of people to introduce my business to as I expand.”
1st Prize Pre Trading Winner
Motive
Enam Ruf, Selim Irez & Abdullah Chowdery
First place in the pre-trading category was awarded to students Enam Ruf, Selim Irez and Abdullah Chowdery for their business, Motive – a one-stop event ticketing platform for universities, their students and societies. Through the app, students can easily register for events and manage memberships, while students’ unions can track and monitor event attendance and view ticket sales.
Fourth year medical student Enam explained: “This app was made by students for students, and this has been central to our success. Students actively look at ways to participate in university life and have new experiences, and university societies play a huge role in shaping this. We also appreciate the value of managing ticket sales for large scale events and our intuitive analytical tools has made this facility much more effective.
“Winning this competition is brilliant and gives us so much confidence because it shows Spark’s validation of our business. Our continued relationship with the Spark team and the network of professional advisors will allow us to gain specialist advice on intellectual property and patents ahead of launch in a few months’ time.”
Nick Howard Prize Winner
2Sway
Finn Blakeney
Second year Business Management student Finn Blakeney was tired of how expensive nights out were and decided to make it his mission to make life cheaper for students. To do this, he developed the innovative new app, 2Sway, offering students hundreds of discounts at local businesses.
Initially launching in Leeds, 2Sway have partnered with restaurants, bars, and clubs all over the city and are offering students up to 60% off food & drink.
“The hospitality industry thrives off of trusted recommendations. Yet on social media, there’s nothing that comes close to recreating such a powerful message. 2Sway has brought trusted recommendations digital to finally provide a way for hospitality businesses to reach the student market effectively”
Entrepreneurs Exchange
Every two months, Spark organises Entrepreneurs Exchange, an event which brings together our young entrepreneurs to a round table discussion about their issues, problems, good news stories and successes. It is a great forum to hear from other business owners and share best practice and commercial opportunities.
Guest speakers from both alumni donors and Spark alumni businesses bring an added element of learning about the reality of the commercial world and the relaxed feel of the meeting means that everyone is welcome and included.
Entrepreneurs Exchange is a fabulous opportunity for alumni entrepreneurs to give back to the University and truly engage with the business leaders of the future. This event remained popular throughout the lockdown in a virtual setting and has now returned to an in-person event.
A Bright Future for Enterprise
It’s an exciting time to be an Entrepreneur at the University of Leeds, with the upcoming ‘Digital Learning Accelerator’ and its dedicated Enterprise Zone due to open in early 2023.
The Enterprise Zone in the new Digital Learning Accelerator will play a vital role in the expansion of enterprise at the University. Spark held a focus group with current enterprising students, recent graduate entrepreneurs, and a number of well-established Spark alumni businesses in order to determine what they would want to see in the space and how it might be used.
The results were enlightening with a clear desire to make the space available right across campus and open to all students from all faculties. The alumni businesses were keen to give back by mentoring and coaching up-and-coming entrepreneurial students as well as using the space to develop their own ventures. The maker space was seen as a key element as were the cross discipline collaborations that would take place.
Everyone agreed that having a central space where enterprise activities, coupled with state of the art digital facilities, could take place was a gamechanger for the University of Leeds.
Where Are They Now?
As well as supporting emerging entrepreneurs, Spark also enjoys maintaining relationships with many of the start-ups that have previously been through the programme, watching them grow and continuing to support them if required.
The two businesses highlighted below were featured in the Spark Impact Report 2017and have gone from strength to strength.
The Bunch
Elliott Herrod-Taylor
Zeelo
Sam Ryan and Barney Williams
LADbible Group
Alex "Solly" Solomou
SeeAI
Saile Villegas and Reo Ogusu
