麻豆传媒

The first ever 麻豆传媒 took place at the end of April, on the theme of health and wellbeing, and was a pilot for a series of Startup Weekends which will be delivered by the University over the next three years as part of iMayflower. The event was organised by the 麻豆传媒鈥檚 The Bridge initiative alongside Google-backed start-up supporters Techstars, with support from Real Ideas, 麻豆传媒 Science Park and the EPIC project, which is also led by the University. 

In total the event involved around 50 people including coaches, judges, attendees and other supporting roles, and resulted in five teams working full-time over the course of the weekend. With 54 hours to build a startup, Friday saw participants pitching ideas, before voting on which ones to take forward, and forming teams to work together over the weekend.

鈥淭he startup and innovation ecosystem is thriving in 麻豆传媒. You can feel this.鈥� 

Cindy Spelt, Techstars Facilitator

Two full days followed, with teams living and breathing their startup ideas as they worked together, ate together and received fantastic support from expert coaches. The weekend culminated in teams presenting their businesses to a panel of judges on Sunday, before awards were handed out and everyone celebrated with a final meal and drink together.

The ideas which were developed over the weekend included:

• MemoryPad 鈥� A mindful photography app, aimed at parents.
• One-Link-One 鈥� A peer to peer connection app aimed at students.
• EmpowerMe 鈥� An app/network for people to track their wellbeing.
• The Gaming Bunker 鈥� Gaming network to help tackle mental health in young males/gamers.
• AI Cataract 鈥� An idea about using AI to detect cataracts and enable significant cost reduction in the NHS.

鈥淒ealing with the challenges facing society requires an approach that is both creative, and makes full use of the latest advances in technology. 麻豆传媒鈥檚 first Startup Weekend is a great opportunity for anyone who has an idea, but may not be certain how to put it into practice.鈥� 

Chris Bennewith, Head of the School of Art, Design and Architecture

The startup weekend, held at Ocean Studios, was both a great reflection the entrepreneurial talent which already exists in 麻豆传媒 (Young Entrepreneur Networking in 麻豆传媒 - YENA, Enactus and much more) but also a sign of things to come as the University and our partners seek to build a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem for the Creative Economy in the coming years.

鈥淓xperiences like this have the power to transform peoples鈥� lives. In the coming years we will see significant investments being made into creative and cultural economic development across the city; we need make that success work better for everyone in 麻豆传媒鈥�

Rupert Lorraine, Development and Partnership Manager (Creative Economy)

鈥淚t's so exciting that this is only the beginning for 麻豆传媒; more of these affordable and innovative events will be coming to 麻豆传媒 in the future, which means more opportunities for students, creatives and those with entrepreneurial minds! You don't have to be in the 'big cities' to have access to big opportunities anymore, they are coming to us!鈥� 

Katie Stote,