Imperial entrepreneurs came out top at the Duke of York's Pitch@Palace competition this week, securing both first and third place.

A 3D-printed knitwear startup founded by Imperial alumni claimed the top spot, while a current Imperial student came third for his invention – a low-cost baby incubator.

Knitting solutions

Hal Watts, Co-Founder of Unmade

Winning startup Unmade, previously known as Knyttan, is the brainchild of Hal Watts and Ben Alun-Jones, both former Innovation Design Engineering students – a course run jointly by Imperial and the Royal College of Art. They founded the company, along with fellow RCA student Kirsty Emery, in 2013 after they met as students.

Unmade created a software platform for industrial knitting machines,   enabling its clients to digitally design and customize their own knitwear and produce them on demand.

The company are currently located at Somerset House, where they now boast three knitting machines and 22 members of staff.

Hal Watts, co-founder of Unmade, explains: “Today’s fast-fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world and relies heavily on cheap labour. Clothes are designed for everyone and made for no one. Unmade aims to change this, by creating clothes which involve the customer in the design and are then manufactured on-demand. We are turning knitting machines into effectively 3d printers for clothes, allowing us to create 1000 different garments at the same cost as 1000 of the same. “

“Knitwear is one of the most complex types of garments to be manufactured, and a lot of what we do is very technical work with creative problem-solving. Coming from Imperial, with a background in engineering, has been extremely valuable in the development of our company, and the joint Masters with the Royal College of Art taught me to apply these skills.”

Life saving innovation

Imperial also saw a second success during the evening, with current student Malav Sanghavi taking home third prize for BabyLifebox - a low-cost baby incubator, intended for use in the developing world, that provides the basic functions necessary for a child’s survival in their first days of life.

Malav pitching BabyLifeBox at St James's Palace

Made from cardboard, the bottom part of the incubator can be given to the parent of the child after birth as a make-shift cot.

“300 million children die every year, just in their first week of life. BabyLifebox provides basic facilities - like warmth, monitoring and a germ free environment - to provide essential neonatal care at a grassroots level in places where these facilities might otherwise not be available.”

“Pitching in front of so many important people at St James’s Palace was nerve-racking, but I was confident in my idea, and I’m really happy that the audience recognised its promise. This has given the whole team the boost we need to move forward - we’re now looking for investment to help develop viable prototypes of BabyLifeBox for testing and clinical trials.”

Prior to Pitch@Palace, Malav received a £500 grant from Imperial College Advance Hackspace to help him develop the prototype of his product.

“Having access to the facilities, expertise, and funding at Imperial has been hugely helpful in the development of Lifebox. As students, this kind of support is invaluable”, he said.

Malav showed his invention to the Duke of York during the Pitch@Palace Bootcamp, held at Imperial

Pitch@Palace is an initiative which aims to support entrepreneurs by connecting them with potential supporters and investors. The two Imperial teams battled it out Dragons' Den style for the top spots against 13 other startups at St James’s Palace yesterday, pitching their ideas in front of an audience of industry experts, CEOs, and investors.

The Duke of York said: “Pitch@Palace continues to evolve and grow. The number of brilliant ideas out there is remarkable. It shows the UK is a very vibrant ecosystem for encouraging people to consider enterprise and starting their own businesses solving some of the world’s most difficult issues, both technologically and socially.”

College bootcamp

The St James’s Palace final follows Pitch@Palace Bootcamp, which was held at Imperial on Wednesday 14 October. More than 40 start-ups flocked to the College for the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of an audience of industry experts, academics, and the Duke of York in the hope of reaching the final.

Professor David Gann CBE, Vice-President (Development and Innovation) said: “At Imperial, we are proud of our world-leading research in science, engineering, medicine and business and of our culture of innovation, translating ideas into practice. Our students and researchers are using their academic talents to find new solutions to society’s grand challenges.

“Both Unmade and BabyLifebox exemplify the spirit of entrepreneurship that we prize at Imperial. Their success this evening is a tribute to their creativity, design and engineering prowess and determination. I’d also like to congratulate the other brilliant finalists with their ideas for smart city systems and new businesses deploying the internet of things. I look forward to watching their businesses grow and develop. Imperial is creating the space for collaboration and for ventures to grow at our new White City Campus. We welcome Pitch@Palace entrepreneurs to locate with us.”