• Swindon & Wiltshire Community champions
• Thursday July 13 2023
• Author Name: Peter Davison

University of Bristol Founders’ Pledge launched with £50,000 donation from alumnus entrepreneur

Successful startup founders supported by the University of Bristol will help fund the next generation of young entrepreneurs.

The University has launched its ‘Founders’ Pledge’, where entrepreneurs given funding by the University pledge to donate some of their future earnings to young student startups.

Over the past quarter century, the University’s startup competitions have given hundreds of thousands of pounds to scores of young founders. These include recent successes like PEEQUAL, the makers of the UK’s first women’s urinal, and Kaedim, which slashes the time needed to make 3D models on computers.

Many other University startups have also found success. Ultraleap, which allows users to touch virtual objects, raised £60 million in its most recent funding round, and
Ziylo, which is developing a new treatment for diabetics, was sold in 2018 for $800 million.

The University of Bristol’s Founders’ Pledge is non-binding and is instead an aspirational intent to make a gift once the startup finds success. Founders’ Pledges are common in the United States, where they have been influential in building new startups.

Rupert Baker is the first to donate through the Founders’ Pledge. Rupert won the University’s New Enterprise Competition (NEC) in 2010 and was awarded £20,000 for his business TeamUp.

The business, which makes management software for gyms and sports clubs, was recently sold to the American organisation DaySmart Software.

Now Rupert wants to help fund future winners of the competition – and has donated £50,000 to make that happen. He was also on the judging panel for this year’s NEC.

Rupert, who studied Mechanical Engineering with an exchange year at University of Texas at Austin, said: “The University’s New Enterprise Competition was a pivotal moment in providing the validation, focus and confidence I needed to take TeamUp from a prototype and business plan, to an operational business with real customers.

“The preparation and process of entering the University competition put a spotlight on my initial assumptions and gave me valuable practice pitching and selling the business.”

Rupert is now testing new ideas including SharedGoals, an application for individuals and coaches to assess fitness and track progress towards goals, which makes use of image processing and data from wearables.

Prof Michele Barbour, associate pro vice-chancellor for enterprise & innovation at the University, said: “I am continually impressed by the ideas that our student entrepreneurs come up with – by their creativity and lateral thinking, as well as their determination and resilience in bringing those ideas to fruition.

“The startups that impress me the most have great people and solid business models, but also address meaningful problems or challenges. Our students and graduates create startups that address some of the biggest challenges of our time, and this Founders’ Pledge will help more of them turn their inspirational ideas into businesses.”

Prof Judith Squires, the University’s deputy vice-chancellor and provost, said: “Rupert’s generous donation will make a real difference to our budding entrepreneurs, giving them support at a critical time in their business journey.

“I hope that Rupert’s kindness, acumen and hard work will provide inspiration to all our students. We thank him sincerely for his donation.”

Pictured: Winners of the University’s New Enterprise Competition, held in June