Guest Writer Lily Majid Student Ventures
Thanks to the incredible generosity of UWE Bristol alumnus Peter Fane, who donated £250,000 to support our entrepreneurial ecosystem over five years, we’re proud to announce the 2025 recipients of the Entrepreneurial Futures Award. Each winner receives up to £20,000 in funding, plus tailored support from our Student Ventures team. These are resources that can make all the difference at the start of someone’s entrepreneurial journey.
This year’s cohort represents the remarkable breadth of innovation emerging from UWE Bristol. From marine conservation technology to regenerative agriculture, accessibility enhancing performance systems to AI powered recruitment solutions, these ventures are working across the board with creativity, technical expertise, and great social impact.
What unites these diverse entrepreneurs is their commitment to building sustainable businesses that matter. Each has demonstrated their entrepreneurial ability through UWE Bristol’s support programmes and shown a clear vision for growth beyond graduation.
Find out more about each of the Entrepreneurial Futures Award fund recipients below.
Entrepreneurial Futures Award winners 2025
Benjamin Mallinson – Signal Bridge
Signal Bridge is changing the way we collect underwater sound data. Traditional methods depend on surface buoys and frequent trips to retrieve recordings, which are expensive, risky, and often create noise that affects data quality. Signal Bridge solves these problems with a smart module that stays deep and quiet, only coming to the surface when it needs to send data or recharge using solar power. This simple approach cuts costs, reduces environmental impact, and delivers cleaner, more reliable acoustic data for marine research.
The system works seamlessly with existing Passive Acoustic Monitoring setups, allowing scientists to track ocean ecosystems for longer periods without interruption. By bridging the gap between sensors and researchers, Signal Bridge makes high-quality data collection easier and more scalable – helping us better understand and protect marine environments worldwide. With this innovative technology, ocean intelligence is becoming more accessible, affordable, and impactful than ever before.
Barraquito is redefining Southampton’s coffee culture. Launched in July 2025, this independent specialty coffee and bar concept was created to tackle the city’s “Third Place Deficit” – the lack of welcoming spaces beyond home and work. In just three and a half months, Barraquito has become a local favourite, serving over 8,000 coffees and earning a 98.5% five-star review rate. By focussing on exceptional service, quality products, and genuine community engagement, they offer more than great coffee; it’s a vibrant social hub where people can connect, relax, and feel at home.
The mission behind Barraquito is bold: to lead a transformation in hospitality by creating a space where people feel welcome and connected. The team believes great coffee and brilliant service should go hand in hand with a strong sense of community. As they grow, their vision is to bring this experience to more cities across the UK, proving that hospitality can be warm, authentic, and consistent no matter the scale.
Arquip is reinventing the welding mask for a safer, smarter future. For decades, welding masks have barely changed – it’s bulky, limits visibility, and makes training harder. These outdated designs contribute to thousands of eye injuries every year. Arquip was born from real-world experience to solve these problems. Its next-generation mask uses dual cameras and a high-resolution digital display to give welders a clear, unobstructed view of their work. Trainees can see more, instructors can teach more effectively, and businesses benefit from reduced risk and downtime.
Since launching in early 2025, Arquip has moved quickly from concept to prototype. Now, with a fully sourced dual-camera stereoscopic design in development, the team is preparing for field testing with welding training centres already expressing interest. Arquip’s mission is simple: make welding safer, easier, and more efficient – starting with the mask that every welder depends on.
Christopher Russell Middleton – Mycobiome
Farming starts with healthy soil – and MycoBiome makes that possible through science. This biotechnology company is developing advanced biofertilisers that boost soil health, improve nutrient uptake, and reduce reliance on chemical inputs. Their approach combines microbial inoculants with expert advisory services, delivering measurable benefits like better yield stability, increased soil carbon, and long-term land resilience.
Behind MycoBiome is a multidisciplinary team blending engineering, mycology, and agricultural expertise. Since its launch, the company has initiated field trials with early adopter farms, designed a business model that integrates carbon credit schemes, and built partnerships with research institutions. Their mission is clear: make science-driven soil solutions accessible to every farmer, and lead the UK’s transition toward regenerative agriculture. By turning cutting-edge microbiology into practical tools, MycoBiome is paving the way for a future where farming works in harmony with nature.
Scootrr is making e-scooter riding safer and smarter. Micromobility is booming in cities, but with that comes challenges – high accident rates, risky rider behaviour, and compliance issues. Scootrr tackles these problems with an innovative on-vehicle camera system powered by Edge-AI. It spots hazards in real time, moderates speed, and encourages safer riding – all without relying on slow cloud systems. The hardware is designed to fit easily into existing scooters, making it simple for operators to upgrade their fleets.
In just a short time, Scootrr has shipped its first prototype to Voi, secured interest from major operators, and is preparing for pilot programs in Bristol. By combining cutting-edge technology with practical design, Scootrr is helping cities and operators reduce accidents, improve rider safety, and build trust in micromobility. It’s a big step toward making urban transport not just convenient, but truly safe.
Michael Fergie – Haptek
Haptek brings a new sensory layer to concerts, theatre, and immersive arts: sound you can feel. This tech venture is developing next-generation haptic floor systems that turn audio into precise vibrations and synchronised lighting. Their modular platform, Haptagon, creates environments where audiences don’t just hear music or performance – they experience it physically. Designed to be scalable and event-ready, Haptek’s system enhances engagement while making events more inclusive for d/Deaf, Disabled, and Neurodiverse audiences.
Haptek is led by Michael Fergie, who brings over a decade of experience in sound and haptic technology, including five years creating haptic floor systems for major UK venues like the Southbank Centre and Roundhouse Theatre. With strong feedback from accessibility advocates and immersive experience designers, Haptek is setting the stage for a future where performance is multi-sensory and shared by everyone. By combining cutting-edge engineering with inclusive design, Haptek is redefining what it means to feel the music.
Oliver Tyler – Shroot and Kabloom
From wildflower seed bombs to microgreen kits, Shroot creates eco-friendly, growable gifts that are as practical as they are beautiful. Designing and manufactures growable gifts across a small house of brands: Seedbom/Kabloom, Greens & Greetings, Bottle Farm, and Wildflower Wishes. Every product is assembled in-house to maintain quality and speed, using responsibly sourced materials like coir, a coconut by-product that supports fair trade in Sri Lanka and India. Their wildflower mixes are 100% wildflower and tailored for UK conditions, making each product a simple way to create habitats and support biodiversity.
Since acquiring the business in 2022, founder Oliver Tyler has grown Shroot into a trusted name with over 1,100 stockists and 850 brand partners, including Harrods, Liberty London, Kew Gardens – while scaling corporate campaigns with Vodafone and TK Maxx to tens of thousands of units. With 20% of profits funding Wild Britain, Shroot isn’t just creating gifts, it’s buying and protecting UK land for rewilding. Their vision is to become the UK’s leading eco gift house and a top 100 landowner for reviving nature.
Rosent is transforming recruitment by giving recruiters their time back. Instead of spending hours on repetitive admin tasks, recruiters can now focus on building relationships and closing deals. Rosent’s AI voice platform automates the most time-consuming parts of the job, freeing up nearly half a day and unlocking the potential to double billable revenue. This isn’t just efficiency; it’s a shift that can refine productivity and profitability in recruitment.
In just four weeks, Rosent attracted over 1,000 sign-ups to its waitlist and earned recognition as one of EU-Startups’ “Top 50 Promising Early-Stage Startups in Europe.” They are gaining traction in a market eager for smarter, faster solutions with their simple mission: make recruitment more efficient, more human, and more impactful by letting AI handle the heavy lifting.
Enviro IT gives technology a second life whilst reducing e-waste. Based at UWE Bristol, the company refurbishes redundant IT equipment from local SMEs – primarily laptops – making high-quality, durable devices accessible to students, families, charities, and professionals at prices starting from £150. Unlike low-cost, short-lived alternatives, these refurbished devices are built to last, promoting reuse over replacement and cutting environmental impact. Every collection includes secure data destruction using industry-standard tools, with GDPR-compliant certificates for peace of mind.
Founded by Sam Hodgson, a Team Entrepreneurship graduate passionate about reducing IT waste, Enviro IT has already generated over £16,000 in revenue and sold more than 1,200 items through platforms like eBay. Their vision is to become Bristol’s leading IT recycling and refurbishing company – partnering with sustainability initiatives, creating training opportunities, and donating devices to those in need. By combining affordability, security, and sustainability, Enviro IT is proving that technology can be both accessible and responsible.
William Crewe-Turrell – Bio Drive/Bio-Agri Ltd
Bio-Agri Ltd is addressing one of the UK’s biggest agricultural challenges: over 100 million tonnes of organic waste produced annually by farms and anaerobic digestion (AD) plants. Conventional treatment systems are costly and inaccessible for smaller operators, leading to nutrient loss, water pollution, and rising compliance pressures. Their solution, the Bio-Recover System, is a compact, modular unit that transforms waste into clean water, liquid fertiliser, and dry compost-like solids. Designed for affordability and scalability, Bio-Recover helps farms and AD plants cut costs, meet environmental regulations, and embrace a circular economy.
Their vision is to make nutrient and water recovery as common on farms as tractors—an everyday tool that supports sustainable agriculture and energy. Over the next five years, they aim to roll out Bio-Recover units across the UK, proving that advanced waste treatment doesn’t require high cost or complexity. Looking ahead, Bio-Agri sees global potential, turning organic waste into a resource for clean water, affordable fertiliser, and renewable energy – reducing emissions, restoring water quality, and strengthening food and energy security worldwide.
To all our 2025 winners: congratulations, and here’s to your continued success. The future looks bright.
Want to follow in their footsteps? Keep an eye on the Student Ventures webpage for information about future Entrepreneurial Futures Award opportunities and other support programmes available to UWE Bristol entrepreneur