AN Aberystwyth student has won two major prizes at a young entrepreneur competition, winning praise for his app to help improve Snapchat for users.

James Bryan scooped the Future Entrepreneur and Best Overall Higher Education categories in the Welsh Government’s Big Ideas Celebrated competition held on Thursday, 30 March.

James, who took a gap year to help build the app and launch it, said he was thrilled to have won the prizes after his app, Snapsearch, was hailed by judges.

Snapsearch helps Snapchat users to find friends, despite not knowing their usernames, with judges saying that it helps improve the experience for users of Snapchat.

James said: “I came up with the idea for Snapsearch when I wanted to add a friend on Snapchat in sixth form but didn’t know their username.

“I took a gap year to found the business and the app launched on 5 October 2015. We began building the app in January 2015, so it took nine months to launch the first iteration. On 5 October I launched the easiest way to find and add someone or something on Snapchat.

“I feel elated to have won Future Entrepreneur award and I do feel deserving of it after the consistent hard work that I have put in.

“I am very proud that Snapsearch has been recognised as the best higher education business in Wales by the Big Ideas Wales judges.

“I hope that we can continue to improve Snapchat for users and continue our global growth.”

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