£18,500 invested on the spot as UNiDAYS, StudentVenture, and Canopy Community crown the UK's top student founders at Revolut HQ. Ten finalists from across the UK pitched for £100,000 of investment at the culmination of the UK's largest student startup accelerator programme London, 27th May 2026 — StudentVenture, UNiDAYS, and Canopy Community hosted the grand finale of the UK's largest student startup accelerator programme at Revolut HQ, Canary Wharf, London. Ten student found

Who is Oscar? Oscar Heaney is a Business Finance and Management graduate from the University of East Anglia, graduating with a first-class honours in 2025. Starting Far From during his last term at university, he has since built a live platform with hundreds of users and has already raised institutional financing for Far From — all before most people his age have had their first investor meeting. Oscar leads the finance and operations, working alongside co-founders Sarah and

Who is Abraham? Abraham Orherhe is a Master's student at City, University of London, a working Biomedical Scientist, and a software engineer who has spent years building complex backend systems. He is not a first-time builder. Abraham came into the programme with a working product, strong technical depth, and the discipline of someone used to solving serious problems in both healthcare and software. Why is Abraham building it? Every month, millions of people get paid and see

Who is Ruth? Ruth Ogbevire is a Biochemistry graduate from the University of Manchester, a RISE Global Winner — a programme backed by Eric Schmidt and the Rhodes Trust — a One Young World Ambassador, and a scientist who has worked at AstraZeneca, the University of Nottingham's Biodiscovery Institute, and presented at climate tech summits in San Francisco. Ruth doesn't just understand the problem she's solving — she has spent her entire academic and professional career buildin

Who is Mark? Mark Edwards is a Banking and International Finance undergraduate at Bayes Business School — and one of the most naturally entrepreneurial people in the cohort. He grew up between the US and the UK, holds FINRA securities licences, has been incubated by TNG Capital Partners in New York, pitched at FinAccelerate hosted by Jones Day in Paris, and launched SLVR's beta platform at a trade show in Orlando — all before finishing his degree. Mark doesn't wait for permis

Who is Natalie? Natalie Weir is a PhD researcher at the University of Derby, a physical literacy expert with over a decade of experience in sport and movement development, and someone who has spent her entire career trying to get children moving more. She's worked at British Orienteering for twelve years, holds a Masters with Distinction from Loughborough University, serves as Early Years Lead for the International Physical Literacy Association, and was a national finalist in

Who is Sebastian? He's the founder of London Quantum Group, a commercial research lab working at the intersection of quantum computing, AI, and healthcare infrastructure. He's won the Quantinuum Year of Quantum Hackathon, the Slaughter and May Innovation Competition, and the NHS Hackathon. He was selected as a Top 100 Research Fellow by Bridgewater Associates. He's published academic work, worked on the first ever three-variable satellite optimisation problem to run on a quan

Who is Amaan? Amaan Khan is a software engineer at Jaguar Land Rover and a Computer Science graduate from the University of Warwick.. Amaan completed a four-year Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at JLR before joining as a full-time iOS Engineer. He watched firsthand how early careers programmes — the very ones designed to develop the next generation of talent — were being managed on disconnected HR systems, spreadsheets, and manual processes that were never built fo

Who is Amelia? Amelia Vincent is not your typical founder. A Product Design and Engineering student at the University of Lincoln — graduating with a first — Amelia spent years working as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities before and during her studies. That's not a line on a CV. That's the entire reason Middle exists. She loves building things. She has the engineering background to do it. And she has the lived experience to know exactly what problem she's

Who is Mara? Mara James is a Master's student at LIS: The London Interdisciplinary School, where she's studying Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods — which is, it turns out, exactly the right background for the problem she's trying to solve. Before her Master's, Mara studied Contour Fashion at De Montfort University, graduating with a first. She's worked in design, content creation, and social media — building a practical understanding of audiences, aesthetics, and what ma

Who they are Hussnain Khan, Bilal Ahmed, and Mansoor Saad are three University of Liverpool students who didn't come from a startup background. Hussnain, CEO, studied Mechatronics and Robotics, completed a placement year at Bentley Motors, and was named a top 3 intern out of 100+. Mansoor, CTO, is a two-time scholarship winner whose code ran aboard the International Space Station as part of a European Space Agency mission. Bilal, studying Computer Science, interned at NatWest

BRAND UPDATE · STUDENTVENTURE & VAULTT The mission stays the same. The platform powering it now has a name. Meet Vaultt - the tech behind everything StudentVenture has been building for students and graduates. First, a bit of context. StudentVenture was built on a simple belief: a CV has never been enough to show who you really are. A one-page document shouldn't determine whether you get a shot at the opportunities you've worked for. So we built something to change that. A w

PYNQL is an ambitious fintech startup creating a centralized exchange for Cultural IP. Led by industry veterans - including Derek Morrison (former VP at StockX and Director at UNiDAYS) - PYNQL is bridging the gap between artists and investors. They aren’t just building an app; they are building the infrastructure for a more sustainable, liquid, and accessible creative economy. The Problem: The "Execution Gap" Even with a leadership team that has scaled global giants like St

Intelligent AI is an award-winning UK insurtech firm. They have pioneered "Digital Twins of Risk," using AI and high-quality COPE data to provide insurers and brokers with a 360-degree view of property risk in real-time. The Challenge: The Scale-Up Bottleneck As a small, high-growth team, Intelligent AI reached a critical juncture. They had revolutionary software ready for release but faced a dual challenge: Lack of resources: They needed to explain their new solutions on L

The Student Startup Accelerator is an intensive programme built to help founders move from idea to execution at speed. Powered by UNiDAYS , StudentVenture, and Canopy Community . The 2026 intake provides a clear picture of how student entrepreneurship is evolving across the UK. Applications came from 80 universities and nearly every academic discipline. Founder talent is no longer concentrated in business schools or specialist tech departments. It is distributed, interdiscipl

The judging panel has been announced for the Student Start-up Entrepreneurship Event. Five industry leaders will decide which student-led projects have the DNA to become the UK’s next market leaders. The Official Judging Panel Simon Squibb (Entrepreneur & Investor): A serial founder and global influencer. Simon brings a wealth of experience in brand building and a massive platform to champion the next generation of founders. Rachel Sestini (Canopy Capital & SEIS Fund): A

In this session, join Liam Jeffery , the founder of StudentVenture , as he interviews George Pygall , founder of RecruitGrads, discusses his transition from a student at the University of Exeter to a successful entrepreneur. He addresses the common uncertainty graduates face, explaining that his own path was not predetermined. Instead, he found his footing by excelling in sales early in his career, an experience that provided the grit and communication skills necessary to nav

Our mission has always been clear: to empower 100 startups to transition from "student project" to "market leader." Today, that mission becomes even clearer. We are proud to announce that the flagship accelerator programme has officially moved to Revolut HQ , marking a new chapter in how we support the next generation of founders alongside a powerhouse trio of partners: UNiDAYS , Canopy Community , and Simon Squibb. A Synergy of Startup Giants This isn't a journey we’re takin

Every year, millions of students across the UK face the same cycle: study hard, graduate, apply everywhere… and hear nothing back. It’s a national problem - one that damages confidence, limits potential, and wastes talent. And for Liam Jeffery , it wasn’t a statistic. It was personal. StudentVenture exists today because Liam experienced the problem firsthand - not in theory, not academically, but in the lived reality of early-career rejection shared by students everywhere. Hi

"It has been so refreshing working with StudentVenture, truly working to improve the lives of students. Being so focused on providing new opportunities and opening the door for the next generation is inspiring. The team is incredibly open minded, eager to improve and integrate new perspectives; one of the many reasons they were a pleasure to work with." Olivia Batten, Women@Tech Overview Women at Tech is a leading organisation dedicated to empowering women in the technology