The University hosted the first major event of the Converge Challenge 2013 - The Elevator Pitch, at The Royal Society of Edinburgh.
The pitch
This event is seen as one of the highlights of the Converge calendar providing all applicants that have progressed to second stage of the competition with an opportunity to pitch their business idea to a panel of expert judges made up of leading entrepreneurs and businessmen from across the country, the only twist being they must do this within a strict time limit of one minute with no notes or visual aids!
The event was attended by around 130 guests from industry and academia all of whom were very impressed by both the standard of the pitching and the business ideas themselves.
Helen Bridle, of Heriot-Watt was judged to have given the best pitch for her idea for new materials developed for water monitoring and treatment to provide the safe delivery of healthy water.
Converge Challenge
The pitches were part of a two-day commercialisation training course for Converge Challenge, a unique business competition run by Heriot-Watt University aimed at finding Scotland's next generation of entrepreneurs attended by representatives by almost every Scottish university.
Applicants for Converge now have until Friday 2nd August to submit their full business plans before six finalists are selected at the start of September.
Find out more about the Converge Challenge business plan competition.