Unloc & Verizon Business scoop impressive awards at the Better Society Awards 2024
13 June 2024
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
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Five young entrepreneurs have been named finalists in the latest Verizon/Unloc Young Entrepreneurs Challenge program to attract and empower Europe’s young business leaders of tomorrow.
The challenge, now in its fifth year, tasks youths between the ages of 16 and 25 to devise a tech-led business idea that enriches and benefits the lives of other people and the planet. This year’s top challenge ideas ranged from groundbreaking new sustainable fibers and low-cost green energy provision, to sectors such as agriculture and pharmaceutical health tech.
“Every year this challenge uncovers amazing young talent from across Europe and this year is no exception,” said Sanjiv Gossain, General Manager and Head of EMEA for Verizon Business. “It’s inspiring to see new innovative business concepts in the areas of sustainability and green energy across a diverse range of industries.”
The response to this year’s competition was bigger and more competitive than ever, featuring 130 entries from a broad swath of countries across Europe including the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Finland and Greece. These entries were narrowed down to five finalists.
“The sheer standard of entries this year is just simply phenomenal,” said Hayden Taylor, Managing Director of Unloc. “Young people are really showing that they have what it takes to think for themselves, carve their own futures and forge their own enterprises. Shortlisting this year was very, very difficult, our five finalists are all so impressive – it’s going to be a really close competition!“
The five 2023 finalists going through to the grand final on Thursday 9th March are:
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Marion Cantillon (24) Ireland
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Marion’s business idea is for Pit Seal, an edible spray-on-solution for silage pit coverage that creates a zero-waste circular economy in agriculture. Existing plastic sheeting and tyre methods are a challenge and a hazard to farmers, and the environmental damage of plastic and tyres are renowned in the industry, and cause many accidents in agriculture.
Pit Seal reduces the time spent covering the pit and subsequently fixing and adjusting the sheeting after harsh weather during the winter months. Numerous research studies have shown the positive effects of decreasing methane emissions by adding seaweed to animal feed as the biofilm is seaweed based – it reduces the methane emissions once consumed by livestock. Pit Seal’s long-term aim is to be a leader in sustainable farming products particularly in Beef and Dairy farming.
Anjali Benny Devadasan (20) UK
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Anjali’s company Synergy aims to decrease greenhouse emissions from rail transport by generating low-cost renewable energy. 80% of the motion resistance trains face is caused by simple air resistance, leading to large portions of energy on railways being uselessly dissipated. Due to this, rail traction currently produces almost 3 mega tonnes of CO2, the same as 2019-20. This does not align with the railway’s net-zero goals.
Synergy provides efficient, recyclable, vertical-axis wind turbines, which rotate due to the turbulent airflow of passing vehicles. The modular design is low-cost and easy to install and maintain, uses available land and has negligible noise pollution. The turbines have high energy efficiency of 40% and are made using recyclable and/or upcycled parts from the automotive industry. Also, they have safety mechanisms and wildlife prevention sensors to protect animals from both turbines and transport.
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Evan Gwyne Davies (25) UK
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Evan’s business Scrapp is a mobile app and tablet station that separates waste. With a quick scan of a barcode, Scrapp shows exactly how to dispose of a product’s packaging correctly according to local authority recycling rules. Scrapp has built a database that knows the recycling rules across all of the UK, USA and Canada, servicing 400 million people.
Businesses can license tablet stations to position above their waste streams. Using the same technology as the app it turns any bin into a smart bin. Scrapp services reduce contaminated recycling in their corporate office buildings, conferences and events spaces or customer-facing venues. The tablet stations allow customers to track waste in their vicinity and report CO2 emissions for their Scope 3 analysis.
Idan Gal-Shohet (22) UK
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Fashion brands face a significant challenge in finding truly sustainable, affordable, and scalable materials. The industry is a major contributor to global emissions and water consumption, accounting for 8% and 215 trillion litres respectively. Idan’s company Fibe aims to revolutionise the industry using cutting-edge technology to extract cellulosic fibres from potato harvest waste. This waste, which amounts to 250M tonnes annually, cannot be fed to livestock or compost, and has the potential to provide 160% of global clothing demand.
Fibe purchases this waste from farmers and transforms it into fibres that are compatible with conventional textile machinery. Despite being a novel process, using waste as a raw material allows Fibe to sell their fibres competitively with cotton and polyester. Fibe’s fibres use 99.7% less water, produce 82% fewer pollutants, and require no land compared to cotton. Sustainable and meeting several SDGs. Every shirt made from Patacel saves 2,700 litres of fresh water , 2 square meters of land, and over 225 kgs of CO2 from being emitted, as well as providing additional income to farmers and their rural communities.
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Olivia Simpson (21) UK
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Olivia’s company Symbiotex have a mission to create sustainable materials for global health. In the medical industry single-use plastic is everywhere, with a mere 5% of it recycled- equating to roughly 10,000 London buses of medical plastic waste going to incineration or landfill annually in the UK alone. Symbiotex use waste cooking oils and algae to create the first range of home compostable 3D printable filaments. Their materials match the functionality of plastic but are compostable.
The filaments can be used for 3D printing or made into pellets for injection moulding. Their medical products include pregnancy tests, diagnostic tests and inhalers. Symbiotex’s home compostable bio-based pellets can easily substitute the current plastic pellets used in manufacturing without the pharmaceutical company even needing to change their machinery or process, ensuring an easy and quick transition and maximum sustainability.
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What happens next?
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The five finalists will now compete for the grand prize during a live event, where they will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges that includes former winner Rowan Armstrong, as well as invited guests in business and education. Judges for the Grand Final include:
Antony Tompkins, Associate Director Global Integrated Solutions, Verizon Business
Lorraine Stockle, Associate Director, EMEA Talent Acquisition, Verizon
Ella Robertson McKay, Managing Director One Young World
Sara Diegoli, Unloc Advisory Board
Rowan Armstrong, CEO and Co-Founder BioLiberty
The grand final will be live-streamed on Twitter and LinkedIn. The top winner receives £10,000, mentorship, and a technology support package to help kickstart their business proposal.
Each runner-up will receive £1,000 to fund their start up business, a personalised development plan that focuses on the winner’s key priorities, as well as access to a series of masterclasses over the next year that will pair the winner with a variety of industry experts.
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For more information on the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge click here!
About Unloc
Unloc was founded in 2013 by award-winning young leaders and advocates Hayden Taylor and Ben Dowling. Our mission is to empower young people to be innovative changemakers who seek to build stronger communities and sustainable businesses. We develop young people’s skills, enhance their potential and boost their determination to succeed. This is encapsulated in our ‘Developing Young Potential’ tag-line.
We work towards our mission by delivering inspiring educational programmes in our growing network of schools and colleges, our physical Changemaker Studios spaces in Portsmouth and London, and work with business leaders to deliver a range of programmes that help us achieve our mission.
About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30, 2000 and is one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $128.3 billion in 2020. The company offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control.
VERIZON’S ONLINE MEDIA CENTER: News releases, stories, media contacts and other resources are available at https://www.verizon.com/about/media-center.
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Applied for the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge 2023 yet? Our Europe-wide competition in partnership with Verizon Business aims to discover the best of up and coming new business talent, and is officially open for applications!
Now in its fifth year, the dynamic competition uncovering new business minds is open for young people across Europe aged between 16-25 years old.
With a focus on technology, digital, sustainability and the environment, entrants will submit their tech-led start-up business concept online.
Five finalists will be chosen from the entries, and they’ll go head to head pitching their business idea, concept or start-up to a panel of expert judges at the Grand Final in the Spring.
The winner will claim a £10,000 (€11,000) Grand Prize, mentorship, and a technology package to launch their business.
In addition, they will also receive a ticket to attend the Global One Young World Summit in Belfast in October 2023.
“It’s hard to believe we’re now in our fifth year of the competition,” said Hayden Taylor, Managing Director of Unloc ”Year upon year we’ve seen the sheer quality and standard of entries from budding young entrepreneurs rise. Last year’s competition in particular attracted some truly outstanding young people, with amazing leadership and business skills, an exceptionally high standard.”
“We were absolutely blown away and had a really difficult time choosing an overall winner. I know we, and our partners Verizon are looking forward to seeing what talent from across Europe the competition attracts this year.”
To enter, entrants are asked to record a 60-90 second video, as well as completing an online application form outlining their business idea.
Applications will be judged based on their viability, technology innovation and sustainability.
The finalists will then compete head-to-head in a Grand Finale held in February 2023, pitching their business concept live to a panel of expert judges and invited guests representing both the worlds of business and education.
Winner of the Young Entrepreneur Challenge 2022 Nick Cotter
Nick Cotter of Cotter Agritech was crowned the winner of the 2022 Verizon/Unloc Young Entrepreneurs Challenge. Nick’s company, based in Limerick, Ireland, have a vision to dramatically reduce chemical use in agriculture while improving productivity and profitability.
Nick and his Brother Jack developed a system that uses advanced algorithms to enable livestock farmers to identify and target animals that need treatment with anti-parasitic drugs without blanket treating the entire flock or herd.
Nick’s triumphant victory won €11,000 for Cotter Agritech, funding, a business mentor package and entry to the 2022 One Young World Global Summit.
Nick said: “Enter, because the sooner you find out whether it’s a good or bad idea, the sooner you find the right idea, and the sooner you can have an impact and achieve your ambitions. It’s just a fabulous experience to be a part of.“
“Startups go through 6-7 life and death moments every year, and some even every month, so awards like this are of huge value in terms of being undeniable achievements that you can’t deny from yourself, and you can look at them and they will give you the confidence to go with the idea, and keep moving forward.”
“We have invested in the production of video testimonials with test farmers who used the solution in 2021, so the funding has been of huge immediate value in kickstarting our launch and accelerating uptake and adoption, and we’re very grateful to Unloc and Verizon for their support.”
Click here to read Nick’s full interview.
Click here to read more information about entering or apply!
About Unloc
Unloc was founded in 2013 by award-winning young leaders Hayden Taylor and Ben Dowling. The organisation’s mission is to empower young people to be innovative changemakers who seek to build stronger communities and sustainable businesses.
The organisation is focused on developing young people’s skills, enhancing their potential and boosting their determination to succeed. Unloc works towards achieving its mission by delivering inspiring educational programmes, including on entrepreneurship and self-employment, in our network of 100+ schools and colleges in the UK and beyond.
To find out more about Unloc and all our latest news visit: unloc.org.uk/news
About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30, 2000 and is one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $128.3 billion in 2020.
The company offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control.
It’s now been several weeks since Nick Cotter was crowned the Grand Prize Winner of the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge! Each year, Unloc and our partner Verizon seek out the best of fresh young business talent from across Europe.
The Winner receives £10,000 funding for their business idea, a mentorship package, support, and entry to the One Young World Global Summit.
Nick, from Ireland beat amazingly fierce competition from the other finalists, and impressed our judging panel with his idea for a system for livestock farmers to better use anti-parasitic drugs, reducing the impact on biodiversity, bringing down costs and preventing parasitic resistance.
We caught up with Nick to hear about how things are progressing and how we found the overall experience of entering the competition.
Nick, again congratulations on your win! You did an amazing job at our Grand Final. For those that missed it, introduce yourself and tell us about your business idea!
“Thanks! I’m Nick Cotter, and i’m the co-founder of Cotter Agritech, we are a Limerick-based start-up, founded by myself and my brother Jack. We have a vision to dramatically reduce chemical use in agriculture while improving productivity and profitability. Our company has developed a system that uses advanced algorithms to enable livestock farmers transition from blanket treating animals with anti-parasitic drugs, to a very precise application – by identifying and targeting only the animals that need treatment.
This approach reduces anti-parasitic drug use by up to 50%, which reduces costs, prevents against parasite resistance, and reduces impacts on biodiversity. We concluded research trials in 2021 with UCD, QUB, and 18 commercial farmers across Ireland and the UK, which has validated our solution. The hardware and software products are now being launched in Ireland and the UK at the LAMMA agri show in Birmingham this week 4th-5th May 2021”.
That’s so exciting! We wish you every success with the launch this week. What made you think the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge was the right competition for you to enter?
“It’s a very prestigious European competition. You just have to look at the previous winners and where they have gone since to see the quality of each year’s entrants.
I expected it to be highly competitive (which it indeed was!) but I thought if we could tell our story in a compelling manner, that we had every shot of winning the grand final. We also thought that if we could get access to Verizon and Unloc’s expertise through this competition, that it would accelerate our development and move us forward.”
The final was quite a nerve wracking event, how did you feel in the days beforehand?
“We felt both tense and excited in the days leading up to it. We were hard at work prepping the pitch and doing mock Q&A’s to be ready for anything the judges might throw at us. I believe the work is done in training, so we really focused on that to be well prepared for the final.”
How did you find the Grand Final and delivering your pitch to the panel?
“By the time the final came around I was reasonably relaxed to be honest, as I knew we had done everything we could do in the days before to prepare ourselves and give the best chance of success.
The pitch is very tight at 5 mins – but it’s a great exercise to condense your idea, and put focus around it. The panel was testing but we have been working on this for 2 years now so we know our idea inside out, and I was able to answer the questions confidently and concisely.”
Were you shocked when you were announced as the winner?
“To even be shortlisted for the final was a huge honour, so to win was an absolute bonus. I couldn’t believe we had won, it was just unbelievable. The quality of the other 4 finalists was very high – medtech, sustainable clothing, the other ideas were very current and relevant to the challenges of the current global climate.
As an ag-tech startup it’s a very important award from a support point of view. Agriculture is under significant pressure to become more productive to feed the projected 10 billion people by 2050, and to also meet ambitious sustainability targets.
It’s a huge boost to have Verizon and Unloc recognise the innovation ongoing in Agriculture, to shine a light on it, and support this type of innovation. It’s a huge vote of confidence in sustainable animal production.
We are just over the moon, and so proud of the thousands of hours this team has put into bringing this to fruition.”
It was so well deserved, truly. How are you investing your £10,000 prize funding?
“We have invested it in the production of video testimonials with test farmers who used the solution in 2021. We just recorded them recently, and they will be published alongside our launch at the LAMMA show this week. So the funding has been of huge immediate value in kickstarting our launch and accelerating uptake and adoption, and we’re very grateful to Unloc and Verizon for their support.”
What are your ambitions for Cotter Agritech and where would you like to see the business go in the future?
“We want to operate on a global scale – we’ve chosen to solve a global problem so the ambition is to make our solution accessible to all sheep farmers around the world to deliver this value to all farmers, and eventually move onto solving the same problem for cattle and goat farmers too.
As someone who grew up on a sheep farm, there are a lot more problems to solve and we just see these as opportunities. So I see Cotter Agritech becoming an industry leader in animal agtech, solving more problems for livestock farmers to help them become more productive, profitable, sustainable and viable going forward.”
We will be monitoring your progress closely! What would you say to any other aspiring young people out there considering entering this year’s Young Entrepreneurs Challenge?
“Just go and do it – enter, because the sooner you find out whether it’s a good or bad idea, the sooner you find the right idea, and the sooner you can have an impact and achieve your ambitions. It’s just a fabulous experience to be a part of.
Startups go through 6-7 life and death moments every year, and some even every month, so awards like this are of huge value in terms of being undeniable achievements that you can’t deny from yourself, and you can look at them and they will give you the confidence to go with the idea, and keep moving forward.”
Nick, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us, good luck with everything at the LAMMA launch this week, and we shall catch up with you again so check on your progress!
For more information about Cotter Agritech, their business and the products they supply, click here.
Could you be our next Winner?
Keep an eye on our News page for the latest news and information on the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge as and when it becomes available.
You can also sign up to our free Unloc Digital Update and have all our news delivered straight to your inbox, simply click here to subscribe!
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
Last Thursday industry professionals from across the country gathered at Verizon’s slick London Hub in at MidCity Place, Holborn, for a Changemaker Moments event on Manufacturing.
During the February half-term and Easter holidays this year, 53 young people, in Year 11 and 12, from across Portsmouth participated in our ‘Portsmouth Inspires’ Programme, funded by NCS.
. We’re looking for a passionate & creative young person aged 16-25 in the Portsmouth or London areas to become our first official social media
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
Last Thursday industry professionals from across the country gathered at Verizon’s slick London Hub in at MidCity Place, Holborn, for a Changemaker Moments event on Manufacturing.
During the February half-term and Easter holidays this year, 53 young people, in Year 11 and 12, from across Portsmouth participated in our ‘Portsmouth Inspires’ Programme, funded by NCS.
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