Students win sets them up for Indian summer

Competing against 16 other top UK universities in the final, the team had to raise as much money as possible by coming up with a range of innovative and creative ideas.

The final judging took place on 26 April in London where the team had to present their business ideas and achievements to a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style panel who judged them on their creativity, determination, teamwork and entrepreneurialism. Three teams, Bristol, Exeter and Manchester, then took part in a final panel session which was judged by leading entrepreneurs and senior RBS executives, including CEO Stephen Hester and Laura Moore from The Apprentice.

As well as carrying off the top prize, the team were also awarded the most innovative team prize which they won for renting an Indian rickshaw and charging for rides around town and campus. The team will be enjoying the trip of a lifetime for three weeks to India as their reward. During their time in India, they will be working with a charity called SUPPORT which helps street children as well as spending a week on an internship in the RBS Mumbai office.

Team captain Will Humphries commented “We are grateful for the support of the Exeter students and the Business School as well as a number of local businesses that assisted with our original plans. With this help, we managed to organise a range of successful fundraising ideas, some of which proved to be potential future ventures. The team put in a great deal of effort throughout the competition, especially when faced with presenting to such an esteemed panel from RBS. We feel honoured to have won the competition against 16 other top universities and look forward to continuing our journey in Mumbai as part of our winners prize!”