THE 2019 edition of Aberystwyth University’s enterprise competition has been launched, with a £10,000 prize on offer to the winning entry.

InvEnterPrize offers entrepreneurial students an opportunity to develop and pitch ideas to a panel of distinguished Aberystwyth University alumni.

The successful entry will be able to invest its winnings in equipment, facilities or professional services to turn an invention or business start-up idea into reality.

As well as an investment of £10,000, free office space for one year at the Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus is also up for grabs for proposals in the bio-sciences, life sciences and agriculture sectors.

Now in its fifth edition, Inv­EnterPrize 2019 was launched on Monday, 12 November, by Prof Elizabeth Treasure, vice-chancellor of Aberystwyth University.

Prof Treasure said: “Aberystwyth University has a long history of promoting innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship and it is a pleasure to launch the latest Inv­EnterPrize, which offers an excellent opportunity for our students to develop exciting new ideas and have them critically evaluated by successful industrialists.

“Employability lies at the heart of the student experience here at Aberystwyth and I am grateful to our alumni for their support for this innovative competition which offers an ideal opportunity to develop and potentially launch a successful business venture and career.”

InvEnterPrize, however, is not just about winning the top prize.

As entrants develop their ideas, they will be able to seek expert advice and attend a series of workshops and presentations led by Aberystwyth University’s AberPreneur Network, gaining valuable advice on the way.

A shortlist of finalists will be invited to present their business proposals to the panel of judges in a Dragon’s Den-style competition event on Friday, 29 March.

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