Dragons’ Den – 2023
Back to CompetitionsQUB’s Dragons’ Den, competition is one of many initiatives organised by SU Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of Queen’s Students’ Union which helps students develop enterprise skills and start their own businesses. Dragons’ Den competitors develop a wealth of business skills including pitching, marketing, finance and legal issues. |
Winner: Maebh Reynolds
Final year Mechanical Engineering student, Maebh Reynolds was the recipient of this year’s Engineers in Business prize fund awarded in Queen’s University Belfast’s Dragons Den competition. Maebh (centre) is pictured with (left) Kat Maguire, Enterprise Development Officer and (right) Sarah Grant, SU Enterprise Intern.
Maebh was awarded £3,000 Engineers in Business prize (within a total prize pot of £10,000) for her business GoPlugable which aims to link up electric vehicle users with a community-powered network of home chargers available for access.
Maebh said “Queen’s Dragons’ Den has been pivotal in accelerating the development of GoPlugable. The mentorship and expertise provided by SU Enterprise have been so valuable in providing direction and helping us to achieve major milestones in our startup journey.
“The networking and interaction with other passionate startup founders and industry experts have inspired us to take GoPlugable forward. With the £10,000 funding we are on track to release our first MVP prototype this summer for further validation and testing of our concept to prepare for market release. We are excited for what lies in the journey ahead and I am incredibly grateful for the continuous support!”
Positive feedback
The Engineers in Business Prize Fund added significant value to the QUB Dragons’ Den competition in 2022/23. It enabled us to award funding to an extremely talented engineer with a unique, potentially world-changing business proposition. Being linked to Engineers in Business also provided added value to the competition as it encouraged more engineers to apply to the competition, ultimately resulting in the competition receiving more high-quality applications.
Judith Maguire
Enterprise SU Manager
Queen’s University Belfast