Students explore the City’s vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem as part of Venture Crawl 2020
Hundreds of student entrepreneurs took part in London Venture Crawl earlier this month, a tour exploring the top innovation hubs and workspaces for entrepreneurship in the City.
Loughborough University London collaborated with 15 other London universities to run ten buses to explore London's start-up network first-hand and meet top entrepreneurial leaders.
For the 2020 London Venture Crawl, students from 16 universities across London took the classroom outside. Loughborough students visited Barclay’s Eagle Labs, Containerville, and Workable. Exploring other ecosystems for entrepreneurs, Venture Crawls also took place in Birmingham, Manchester and Chicago on the same day.
Hayley Jones, Student Enterprise Adviser, said:
“Venture Crawl this year was again about getting our students visiting, networking and connecting with the entrepreneurial eco-system in London. Meeting and mingling with the network that supports the eco-system is a two-way process. The day connects accelerators, maker and co-worker spaces and of course entrepreneurs to our students and in turn our students back to them. Our students got to pitch themselves to investors, gain free access to innovative co-worker spaces and learn how to access maker facilities for rapid prototyping of their ideas. Doing all this in just one day is why Venture Crawl is so special.”
Venture Crawl is designed to give students the opportunity to connect to real-world businesses, be inspired by the UK’s vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, and gain skills in self-confidence, creative-thinking, resilience and leadership. VIP passengers hop on board the buses to share their stories and stimulate conversations, peer-to-peer learning and idea sharing. The students took part in behind-the-scenes tours of leading brands, talks and activities and attended a major ‘pitch-off’ event at the end of the day, bringing together almost 400 students.
Ben Cole, Head of Strategic Projects, said:
“Venture Crawl 2020 broke all records with more students, universities, cities and parts of the entrepreneurial eco-system involved than ever before. Hosting the evening event bringing 350 of London’s most entrepreneurially curious students together really is the highlight of my year. Loughborough may not have won the pitching crown this year – but we will be back!”
Notes to editors
Watch a video of Venture Crawl 2018: https://youtu.be/oh9Rp7-Z9Ug
Universities involved in Venture Crawl 2020:
- Loughborough University London
- King’s College London
- Birkbeck, University of London
- London South Bank University
- London College of Fashion
- Brunel University London
- University of Greenwich
- Imperial College London
- University of East London
- Queen Mary University of London
- Regent's University London
- London School of Economics
- City University
- University of Westminster
- London Metropolitan
- Royal Holloway
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2020 QS World University Rankings and top in the country for its student experience in the 2018 THE Student Experience Survey.
Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2020, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 8th in The UK Complete University Guide 2020.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
Specialising exclusively in postgraduate-level study, Loughborough University London is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers cutting-edge master’s and PhD degrees, as well as business collaboration, research and enterprise opportunities.
The seven specialist institutes at Loughborough University London include: Design Innovation, Digital Technologies, Diplomacy and International Governance, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, International Management, Media and Creative Industries, and Sport Business. Close industry partnerships with a wealth of leading businesses and creative organisations means teaching and learning is informed by real-life challenges and driven by true industry pressures.