On 25 October 2018 The Marylebone Entrepreneurial Club will be hosting a live pitching competition at the University of Westminster where club members will be pitching their businesses to a panel of real investors, aiming to raise a total of £1,000,000.
The panel of judges will include Stepan Galaev, Investment Director at Galaev & Co whose firm manages angel portfolios for Dragons Den’s investors, amongst others.
The Marylebone Entrepreneurial Club was founded by two University of Westminster graduates, Dennis G. Lucan and Slava Baranoskiy to create a startup community to bridge academic knowledge and practical application, from business concept to market.
Club members have been receiving support for the last six months from the club founders and their companies, DGL Group and ELIGENT, through a series of business events and mentoring. DGL Group offers consultancy and branding services for startups and educational institutions. Eligent is a full cycle digital studio providing tech development and creative services for established businesses and startups.
The startups who will be pitching are from a variety of sectors across industry including e-commerce, cloud-based software, online services and AI solutions.
This is the first event of its kind to be hosted at Westminster Business School by alumni of the school to support the current student community in collaboration with the MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Enterprise Development directed by Dr Luca Cacciolatti.
“We are delighted to organise such an outstanding event. We believe the event will represent a cornerstone for entrepreneurship at the University by combining the academic knowledge with business application” say Marylebone Entrepreneurial Club Founders Dennis G. Lucan and Slava Baranoskiy.
“We’ve joined The Marylebone Club just about the time when we started the fundraising process for PartyMaker App. Slava and Dennis helped us to shape our pitch deck, identify USPs and refine our business plan. The mix of their marketing and product development backgrounds provided a strong support in final stage of our MVP launch and market placement. We are very excited to pitch to the club’s selective pool of investors.” Aliona Sladzinskaya, Westminster alumni and CEO of ParyMaker App.
“The Marylebone club and the University of Westminster have something similar in their approach to stretch your boundaries and to leave a comfort zone on a regular basis to achieve your goals. The pitching day is going to be very exciting and nervous for me at the same time. Cannot wait to challenge myself again after a long time since the graduation.” Tatiana Nazarian, Westminster MBA Alumni and co-founder of DeepNeed.
“As an academic, I am really proud to see that, at our University, what we teach students sparkles ideas and new ventures. I love to see the impact that our scholarly activities have on the local community. The Marylebone Entrepreneurial Club is definitely a great example of how smart students with a strong entrepreneurial spirit can get inspired by our teaching and research, and then act independently by changing the local economy… the over 150 start-ups that the Marylebone Entrepreneurial Club have been helping so far through business workshops and individual mentoring meetings are a result that speaks for itself.” Luca Cacciolatti, Course Leader of MSc EIED.
The Marylebone Entrepreneurial Club is a network of support and growth built on the experience, passion, talent and professionalism of its members. The Entrepreneurial Club is a community of support and growth where entrepreneurs meet like-minded individuals and learn from each other's experiences. The club acts as a bridge between startups and investors, offering their members guidance in terms of business structure, tech development, marketing strategy and execution.
DGL Group offers consultancy and branding services for startups and educational institutions. With access to ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) funding through a partnership with TBFG (Training Business for Growth), the company consults on marketing, analytics, branding and leadership.
Eligent is a full cycle digital studio providing tech development and creative services for established businesses and startups.
The University of Westminster boasts a vibrant learning environment attracting more than 20,000 students from over 150 nations and we continue to invest in our future with new developments, research projects and new ideas.
We offer highly attractive practice-based courses that are independently rated as excellent, many with international recognition. Our distinguished 180-year history has meant we lead the way in many areas of research, particularly politics, media, art and design, architecture and biomedical sciences, and our position in the city of London allows us to continue to build on our close connections with leading figures and organisations in these areas as well as in the worlds of business, information technology, politics and law.
Our commitment to educating graduates for the needs of professional life attracts high quality students from within the UK and around the globe.
Internationalisation, employability and sustainability are key elements in the University of Westminster’s vision for the future and we strive to ensure the very highest standards are met and maintained.