Teams competed over a non-stop, 24-hour period with help from ICE mentors and their supporting business partners, in a contest which provided participants with expert tuition, introducing them to a new way of thinking about their prospective new ventures, as well as the opportunity to compare notes with fellow students. 

The winning team, with its students based in Wales and Birmingham, proved they had the entrepreneurial edge with their ideas for a new mobile application offering TV viewers more information about the programme they are watching via their smart phone and other devices, winning £2,500 in seed capital in the process to help them get their business idea off the ground.

The prize was part-funded by San Francisco-based Objectivity Inc, the leader in NoSQL Database Solutions for Big Data, which has just launched a new Beta mobile application allowing companies to gain insight into the behaviour of those using their social networks, the competition also gave participants the chance to impress potential employers in the process.

Successful student Peter Allan said: “The 'lock-in' was an incredible experience, being immersed in a pool of like-minded entrepreneurial students brought out the very best in me and the lessons I have learned from my course were influential in being part of the winning team.

“The Swansea Konetics intend on hosting a similar event to this in the future for Swansea students to take part in.”

Professor Niall Piercy, Swansea University Business School's Chair of Entrepreneurship, said: "I am delighted at Peter's success in this competition. He has demonstrated the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that our new BSc Business Management (Entrepreneurship) has been designed to foster and develop, and to have achieved this at the start of his degree programme is outstanding.

“A number of our graduates have found considerable success in setting up their own businesses, and we look forward to helping Peter develop and grow his business during his studies with us."

Gareth Jones, Welsh ICE co-founder, said: “Those involved in the competition were both surprised and delighted with not only the support this event received from the both the student and business community, but also with the calibre of business ideas that came out of the competition.

“Now all those who took part, especially the winners, will be supported by Welsh ICE in every way they can to make all these great business ideas reality wherever possible.”

The winning team - pictured above - comprised Peter Allan of Swansea University, Carey Wallace and Nia Wyn Rossiter of Cardiff University, Abdiellah Madi from the University of South Wales, and Tony Kosta of Birmingham University.

For more information on Swansea University’s Business School visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk/business/, and on Welsh ICE visit www.welshice.org.