If there is someone you would like to add to the list, please email us directly. Please see our shortlist below!
Josh Clarke – Jacked Foods
Founders of Jacked Foods Josh, Michael and Dil met whilst volunteering in Uganda. Josh is a graduate from King’s College London. In Uganda, they tried fresh jackfruits and decided to visit the farmers to learn more about it. They discovered that the farmers added value to their fruits through drying them out, and decided to create their own business based around dried foods – Jacked Foods.
The founders are attempting to bring East African flavours to international markets whilst simultaneously supporting development across supply chains. They are currently in the process of planting a tree for each pouch of dried fruit that they sell, trying to help combat deforestation. They have currently planted over 10,000 trees which is also helping the company to operate on a carbon neutral basis. The company also values sustainability and through planting their trees, they are supporting biodiversity and also local communities.
In addition to this, the company are creating a fully traceable supply chain, helping to tell the stories of the farmers who have grown their fruits. Through this, the customer is always able to understand where their food has come from.
Maria Lema – Weaver Labs
Weaver Labs is a Web3 startup democratising access to telecoms infrastructure with blockchain, effectively creating “a ‘Sonos’ for networks”. The company digitises telecoms infrastructure assets and offers them “as a service” in a shared marketplace: anything from a lamp-post, a traffic light, a fibre network to an entire wireless infrastructure (5G/4G, WiFi) is aggregated in a pool of resources. The end goal is to establish an open, public and decentralised network that serves as “the engine of a marketplace of connectivity assets”.
Founded in 2018, the idea for Weaver Labs first came about when the co-founding team was working at the 5G Tactile Internet Lab at King’s College London on the deployment of the first 5G Network in London. Co-Founders Anthony, James and Alex were software developers for the project and introduced Maria, who was leading the team, to the concept of blockchain and Web3. Together, they believed telecoms and decentralisation combined had the power to make a significant impact on the industry, especially since it was opening up and evolving from something very monolithic to something open and integrable. The idea was sparked, and Weaver Labs was formed.
The company’s product is Cell-Stack, the software platform that creates and facilitates the open marketplace of digital assets, sitting in the middle between supply and demand. The objective of Cell-Stack is to become a platform to enable smart cities and accelerate innovation by collecting all telecom related assets in a single portal, making them discoverable and easy to consume. Assets are contributed to the platform from the supply side, such as local authorities offering street furniture to be used to build networks, and consumed from the demand side, for example, by mobile network operators or smart city applications seeking access to connectivity and assets.
The company sees a space to impact the industry and break down the silos in telecoms that are “barriers to true connectivity”, incentivising new players to join the market. The startup is already establishing a significant list of collaborators in the field, currently working with Transport for Greater Manchester, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and with projects also funded by DCMS, the UK Government and European Space Agency.
But its plans are only just setting into motion. Weaver Labs sees Web3 as “the future of telecoms”. The company is currently moving into blockchain, with plans to launch its token and NFT (non-fungible token) platform imminent. This will lead the transition to a fully decentralised network-as-a-service business model, based on a tokenised economy. A blockchain layer will take on the role of governance of the decentralised marketplace, and the token is the currency used in the ecosystem. Essentially, it’s creating a virtual economy in real-world settings for the public and private sector to operate in.
Looking further ahead, Weaver Labs wants to take its ambitions and turn them global, through the creation of a global blockchain network to decentralise access to connectivity by reducing barriers to entry to new players in the telecoms sector.
Josephine Phillips – Sojo
Sojo was launched by Josephine Philips, a graduate of King’s College London (BSc Philosophy and Physics 2021). Sojo is a platform which operates Deliveroo-style, providing clothing alterations. This is done through connecting users with local seamsters, meaning that they can deliver their clothing wherever it is needed quickly. Josephine’s motivation to build this platform has come from her passion for sustainable fashion, and making it easier for users to have alterations made to their clothes should reduce the need for them to buy new ones.
The Santander X Entrepreneurship Awards is the largest student business competition operating in the United Kingdom, of which Josephine has been a winner with her company Sojo. Josephine was in competition with 70other businesses founded by students or graduates from the country’s top universities, however she won £75,000 in business support, including £50,000 in equity-free seed funding.
Josephine’s business has been a total success and has continued to be supported by the Entrepreneurship Institute. This was initially as a winner of the Idea Factory 2020, and then through the King’s20 Accelerator which took place in 2020-21. Sojo has since featured in many popular publications such as British Vogue and iNews.
Tim Routledge – BioStress Lab
BioStress Lab was founded by King’s College graduate Tim Routledge who has a degree in Applied Neuroscience. The company aims to revolutionise stress management in the workplace through the use of biometric wearable technology. This technology is designed to improve resilience, reduce costs and increase productivity all at the same time.
Currently, BioStress Lab serve enterprise organisations which have over 250 staff, where they track employees stress to create an improved understanding of stress management. The BIO programme implemented by the company successfully allows customers to monitor stress effects through wearables which are able to identify stress causes. They can then suggest remedial intervention solutions and monitor ongoing progress within organisations.
Organisations will frequently fail to deliver effective stress management for their employees without the use of sufficient technologies. This data provided by BioStress’ technology allows employees to obtain a personalised view of their individual stress and how they can improve it.
The company aims to improve productivity simultaneously allow for proactive stress management. This is the first company to offer stress management solutions based on real-time human data. Each individual receiving a personalised stress report ensures that stress management is not the same for every member of an organisation, and instead caters for specific needs.
Dr Michelle Braude – The Food Effect
Dr Michelle Braude was born in South Africa and raised in North London. She qualified as a medical doctor at University College London before she successfully completed a BSc in Nutrition at King’s College London. Her passion for nutrition and healthy living then led her to set up her own nutrition practice in 2012, which she has called The Food Effect.
Michelle Braude has since become a bestselling author, who is also widely-followed on social media and an considered to be an expert in her field. Through her work at The Food Effect, the Immanuel College graduate designs sustainable nutrition plans. These plans are designed to enable people to lose weight, whilst also increasing their health and well-being. Another key aspect of Michelle’s nutrition plans is that customers have the opportunity to truly enjoy what they are eating, whilst still seeing the nutritional benefits.
Her methods are based on a combination of medical knowledge, nutrition and a personalised approach to help customers reach their goals whilst also remaining healthy and happy.
If there is someone you would like to add to the list, please email us directly.
