果冻影院

Cilo

Ryan Brown (MSc Environmental Design and Engineering, 2019) talks about his business Cilo: a new app that鈥檚 all about simplifying carbon action.

Ryan: 鈥淚 first thought about creating something like Cilo during my MSc. In our Energy Context module, our professor, Ben Croxford, taught us how to calculate our carbon footprint, and I thought: 鈥榳hy isn鈥檛 this information more broadly available?鈥�

鈥淎 friend Laurence, who I worked with after graduating, had had similar ideas. So we both eventually took the plunge to work on our own business.

鈥淢eeting the UK鈥檚 net zero target has to start with people taking small, achievable actions, and that鈥檚 what Cilo is all about.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an app that allows you to easily track the carbon in everything you eat and drink, and then suggests tailored 鈥榗arbon reduction鈥� switches. For example, if you eat a lot of pepperoni pizza (which is high carbon), the app will suggest something like a margarita (which is much lower).聽

鈥淭hese small changes, when added together across an entire population, can have a massive 鈥榗arbon reducing鈥� impact. Crucially, Cilo can be used to help organisations engage their employees in climate action, and encourage much-needed conversations about sustainability.

鈥淭he support we鈥檝e had access to at 果冻影院 has been phenomenal. We were accepted into the Hatchery incubator programme at BaseKX, 果冻影院's entrepreneurship hub in King's Cross. That鈥檚 given us two years of free office space and access to intensive business training. It鈥檚 also been great for networking, and connecting with other early stage founders who are all at a similar place in their journey to us.聽

鈥淗aving already won over 拢20,000 in grants through national competitions, at Demo Day we got the chance to pitch our business to a large audience. Off the back of that we鈥檝e now started some promising conversations with potential investors. Outside of the event, we鈥檝e also secured partnerships with corporate partners to trial Cilo with over 300 employees.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all about accessing the power of community to have a positive impact on climate change. So I urge any budding entrepreneurs to tap into 果冻影院鈥檚 entrepreneurial community, too. There鈥檚 so much on offer if you鈥檙e thinking about building your own thing.鈥�

MedQ

Evelina Balt (MSc Health Psychology, 2017) shares her experience of setting up MedQ, a new platform to help healthcare professionals save time with remote patient monitoring.

Evelina: 鈥淎fter finishing my master鈥檚, I spent several years working in the NHS and private clinics, and in research settings.聽

鈥淥ne of my main jobs was to collect patient-reported data, which clinical teams use to track patients鈥� progress and the effectiveness of treatments. But much of this data gathering was happening manually using paper questionnaires.聽

鈥淚 thought there must be a better way. So I threw myself into reading about digital health solutions and spoke to more than 300 doctors to understand their pain points.聽

鈥淚 then came upon the Hatchery incubator programme, run by 果冻影院 Innovation & Enterprise, which I found out I could apply for as 果冻影院 alumna. And everything escalated from there.聽

鈥淭he team at 果冻影院 helped me to build and launch MedQ, an online assessment platform that enables healthcare professionals to complete clinical assessments online and analyse data. Our mission is to make technology accessible to save clinics time, which they can then dedicate to patient care.聽

鈥淧itching at Demo Day in front of over 100 investors was an amazing opportunity. Since university, I鈥檝e always struggled with speaking in front of big audiences. But as part of the Hatchery, we got support from a pitching coach and had lots of chance to practise.聽

鈥淚鈥檝e now been approached by multiple investors, and am scheduling calls with number of them. Having recently secured 拢146,000 of funding, the next stage will be to scale my team with two new recruits.聽

鈥淢y three bits of advice for budding startups? Be proactive. Think about what success means for you. And remember you don鈥檛 need to be brave or extrovert to launch your own business. If I could pitch in front of 100 people, you absolutely can too.鈥�

In total, over 400 new graduate businesses were set up at 果冻影院 between 2014 and 2022. Collectively they鈥檝e raised over 拢300 million in investment and currently employ more than 1,700 people.

Links

Find out more about:

• 果冻影院鈥檚 first Demo Day

Photos of聽Ryan Brown and Evelina Balt聽 漏聽Kirsten Holst