We are pleased to welcome two sustainable student startups to our Quest incubation programme as winners of the New Enterprise Competition.

The New Enterprise Competition is the University of Bristol’s longest running startup competition which awards £35,000 of funding to entrepreneurial students, staff and alumni each year.

SLANT and Weaving Change will join our community of over 100 innovative technology companies, receiving bespoke business support and an expert network of advisers, mentors and investors.

SLANT is building electric trolleys – called ‘e-carriages’ – to help people and businesses reduce their car dependency. They want to reduce unnecessary car journeys and help those who do not drive to move their shopping, children or cargo easily and sustainably.

The business was started by a team of five who met on the University of Bristol’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship master’s program.

They won the top prize of £15,000 and 12 months’ membership at SETsquared Bristol. They also won a bonus £3,000 funded by Engineers in Business and access to pro bono legal support from VWV.

SLANT Co-founder Artemis Fragkopoulos said he was “ecstatic”. He added: “We are incredibly excited to engage with such a prestigious incubator as SETsquared and we are confident that we will get the product to market with this support. Moreover, we look forward to seeing how we, as individuals, will develop by engaging with an experienced and friendly ecosystem of founders and mentors.”

Weaving Change is fighting fast fashion by digitising customers’ wardrobes. Its app will model users’ clothes on a personalised avatar and use an algorithm to suggest outfit ideas.

The team behind the startup, who met at the University of Bristol, won £7,500 and six-months’ incubation at SETsquared Bristol.

Weaving Change CEO, Weronika Stelmach, said: “Membership at SETsquared will be transformative – we’re excited to be surrounded by the energy of innovation, the buzz of possibility. The support will be crucial in helping us to get our product to market, and to create an app which our users love.”

The companies will follow many previous awardees that have gone onto achieve success. Last year’s top prize winner, Impulsonics, has already closed its first funding round of £450K to develop its unique biotech automation platform and begin customer trials.

Kimberley Brook, Director of SETsquared Bristol, said: “The New Enterprise Competition has in its 24-year history spotted some amazing entrepreneurial talent including Ultraleap (then Ultrahaptics), iCOMAT, Lettus Grow and Peequal.

“We’re delighted to offer incubation support to SLANT and Weaving Change and look forward to working with the founders to take their business ideas to the next level.”

Learn more about The New Enterprise Competition.

Find out more about SETsquared Bristol’s incubation programme.