Imperial innovators win big at Mayor’s Entrepreneur Competition

Three Imperial student teams have won prizes at this year’s Mayor’s Entrepreneur Competition.

Three of the winning teams at this year’s Mayor’s Entrepreneur Competition were made up of Imperial students: Mentis Recruitment, Guerrilla and upLYFT. 

The annual entrepreneurship competition calls upon university students across London to devise imaginative solutions to challenges faced within creative industries, environment, health, and tech. 

Imperial’s innovators ranked prominently throughout all stages of the process, representing 35% of the semi-finalists, 60% of all finalists, and then winning three out of the four prizes. Each winning team receives £20,000 to help fund their business, alongside mentoring from staff at City Hall.

Holistic recruitment

Winner of the Tech category, Mentis Recruitment, matches job seekers with companies that align with their values and career goals. The team members spotted a gap for an unbiased and holistic recruitment system that gives candidates an equal chance of success. Candidates complete a short challenge and the platform automatically generates their ‘Curriculum Mentis’ - similar to a CV but with a more holistic view of candidates. The team is made up of Design Engineering students Esther del Portillo, Robert Field, Leila Al-Azzawi, Itziar de Pedro Sarasola and Sean Wisskirchen.

Roadside drainage system

Guerrilla won the Environment Award with their roadside drainage system that reduces pollution in cities. Their device enables roadside drains to capture particulate pollution (from roads, tyre and brake wear, microplastics, toxic hydrocarbons and heavy metals) which would otherwise be washed into the ocean from surface water runoff that occurs during rainfall. The team is also a finalist in the Enterprise Lab's WE Innovate programme and is co-founded by Innovation Design Engineering graduates Summer Chen, Henry Parkin, Hunaid Nagaria and Adhesh Shenoy.

Smart clothing

Health track award winner upLYFT, who were also part of the 2023 Venture Catalyst Challenge cohort, are using smart clothing to improve mobility. Their wearable devices use a combination of machine learning and mechanical stimulation to improve mobility and musculoskeletal health. Delivering vibrational therapy straight to the muscles, upLYFT’s sleeves aim to support mobility and independence amongst the elderly. One of the team’s founders is Aalok Rai, a Biomedical Engineering student.

Ben Mumby-Croft, Director of Entrepreneurship at Imperial, said: “Huge congratulations to all the winners for their impressive range of innovations. These results demonstrate the power of diverse and ambitious young minds coming together with a collective mission to enhance Londoners’ quality of life. The Enterprise Lab looks forward to supporting Imperial’s innovators in developing the next stage of their businesses”

Read more about this year's Mayor's Entrepreneur Competition online.