London alumnus receives Young Innovator Award

The award recognises young people from across the UK with great business ideas who have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs and future leaders in innovation. The Young Innovators programme, which includes annual awards for young people with creative and ground-breaking business ideas, is a partnership between Innovate UK and the Prince’s Trust.

Benjamin received the award for his innovation, VING.AI, which is a secure currency exchange platform for Africans living in the UK. The exchange takes place via an escrow engine, allowing individuals to find a match and safely exchange currency at mutually-agreed rates. Benjamin has identified this niche in the market and further explains the benefits and concepts of the platform:

“For example, Mr Kayode who works in KPMG in London can exchange £1000 with Mrs Chukwu in Nigeria, whose daughter is doing a degree in Newcastle.” VING.AI achieves this by receiving both payments into local currency escrow accounts. Once both funds are received, they complete the transaction. Currencies from both ends are crowdsourced and stay within the source country, avoiding international transfer wait times and high fees.”

Benjamin highlights further benefits of the platform enable consumers including:

• Shop for the best exchanges rates or trade directly with VING.AI for remittance (from the UK to Nigeria, and vice versa)
• Cut down reverse remittance lead times (from Nigeria to the UK) from 1 – 5 days via local banks and / or legacy players (e.g. WU, etc.) to typically within 1 hour or less
• Be empowered within the global African community by exchanging funds with fellow Africans via a secure and flexible platform

Speaking about his award, Benjamin said:

"The best way to predict the future is to create it and this award gives me the opportunity to do just that!"

Benjamin Ndubuisi grew up in Nigeria and moved to the UK in 2015, studying MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management in 2015-16 at Loughborough University London after receiving the Dean’s Award for Enterprise Scholarship. Since graduating from Loughborough University London, Benjamin has rapidly become a pioneer in the currency exchange industry creating a new and innovative platform.

At Loughborough University London, we believe innovation is the cornerstone of economic growth and prosperity and is vital in business as it gives companies an edge in penetrating markets faster and provides a better connection to developing markets. Benjamin is an exemplar of the pinnacle of innovation and creating his own future. Benjamin had this to say about this time at Loughborough University London:

“The University has a long-standing reputation of inspiring leaders and I consider myself one of such. I had a very positive and exciting time at Loughborough University London and would definitely recommend this university for you! If you’re looking for a worthwhile and impact experience, come to Loughborough University London.”

Visit www.VING.AI for more information on Benjamin’s innovation.

Alongside Benjamin, three other high potential tech start-ups founded by Loughborough alumni received Young Innovator Awards. Find out more here.

The Dean’s Award for Enterprise Scholarship has recently opened for applications. Visit our scholarships and bursaries section for more information.