Bath entrepreneur among eight young people from the South West to win national award

Eight of this year’s Young Innovator Award winners, announced today by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, are from the South West, including one from Bath. 

The Young Innovators Awards recognise young people with great business ideas who have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs and future leaders in innovation. In addition to the awards, Innovate UK delivers workshops and briefing events to provide practical business advice to a network of over 12,500 young people across the UK.

The winners have started the New Year with a boost after winning a coveted award for their new business projects. From eco-friendly electronic sensors that convert light into electricity to an on-the-go power solution for cyclists who plan and track routes via apps, the South West innovators promise to make the world a better place.

The Young Innovators competition received almost 700 applicants this year, up 25% on the previous year. 

The South West winners will take a share of the £1.25 million prize fund. They join a cohort of 94 young people aged 18 to 30 with business ideas that could change the world and will benefit from a £5,000 grant, one-on-one business coaching and an allowance to cover living costs.

Winners in the South West include:

• Waleed Lattouf (22 years old), from Bath, who is the creator of Flinke, a web-based platform that allows online businesses to optimise their supply chain. Waleed hopes his platform will help the movement of goods around the world to be easier, faster, smarter, and more sustainable
• Alasdair Aegerter (28 years old), an aerospace engineer from Bristol
• Alberto Morón Hernández (25 years old), originally from Madrid now living in Bristol
• Claudia MacGregor (27 years old), from Cheltenham, who has created Soil Snack where users grow their own snacks 
• Elizabeth Chandler (22 years old), from Exeter, Devon, who has created The Good Robot Company which aims to help businesses detect and eliminate bias in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems, helping companies create better, more inclusive services
• Ethan Wilkin (23 years old), from Filton, Bristol, who is developing a foldable electric motorbike aimed at urban commuters without secure off-street parking. 

Commenting on his award Waleed Lattouf said, “Flinke is an e-commerce operations platform that helps businesses manage their end to end operations. We have launched our first product within financing to help eCommerce businesses get funding from financial institutions in the tough market conditions. We are now building our next generation supply chain orchestration to streamline how businesses run their operations and scale up easily and efficiently.”

Emily Nott, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Programmes at Innovate UK said, “The level of creativity, passion, and commitment to positive change within our society and environment in this year’s Young Innovators Award winners is beyond inspiring.

“Knowing that Innovate UK is creating opportunities and providing support to enable these young people from a wide range of different backgrounds across all parts of the UK to grow and develop their businesses makes me very proud. With the financial uncertainty this year brings, it’s fantastic to see these entrepreneurs starting businesses that will improve the world and boost innovation in the UK. We can’t wait to see what they will achieve next.”

Pictured above: Waleed Lattouf from Bath, Founder of Flinke