Vincent Talks #SharksDen: Pitch Perfect

by Vincent Khau

The final day of Shark’s Den brought with it a buzzing atmosphere of excitement as well as a nervous sense of anticipation as the teams prepared to pitch their innovations in front of the panel of ‘investors’, made up of Rohan Workman, Grace Carey, Dinesh Kantheti and Matthew McKnight. In the few minutes before the pitches began, teams scrambled to discuss last minute details, reviewing Powerpoint presentations, and checking up on their prototypes.

The pitches kicked off with 'Artistic Instrument Design’ presenting their bespoke guitar components, turning musical instruments into works of art that could be quickly customised to fit the mood of the music being played. Furthermore, the extraordinary efforts that this team had put in over the last few works was evident in the aesthetically pleasing 3D printed scratch-plates and capos fitted onto a guitar they had on display. Their business model centred around having consultations with music artists to design personalised pieces that will be cheaper than custom works by luthiers, and more stylish than cheap tacky stickers. It was a great pitch and needless to say, 'Artistic Instrument Design’ was one hard act to follow!

'Radiance’ (my team!) followed with low-cost LED strips on bicycle wheels to produce spinning discs of light as the rider cycled; this tackled the age-old problem of poor visibility of cyclists at night. I presented the pitch whilst Khalid showed off our working prototype that we had managed to piece together, captivating much of the audience’s and impressing the panelists, raising many questions which culminated in Roh’s “Can I have one?”!

The pitches just didn’t stop coming and next up was 'Fit 'n’ Click’, an innovative company that takes individual biometric data of your hand and produces an ergonomic mouse which perfectly fitted the contours of your hand. The pitch was convincingly presented by Ed, accompanied with a prototype mouse that passed between the panellists. What was brilliant about this idea was the versatility around the biometric data; it can be used to produce any number of personalised products, not just ergonomic mice!

The final group to pitch was 'Next-Gen Cover’, who reinvented the concept of phone cases with a modular design which you could add or remove your desired features from. Aliza demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the product, impressing the panelists with the level of detail and research the team had gone to. Additionally, this phone case also had an in-built solar powered battery which meant that you could charge your phone sustainably!

Pitch night was a fantastic way to end the five week journey by celebrating all that everyone had achieved. Congratulations to 'Fit 'n’ Click’ for being the competition’s winners, and I’m sure that all the other teams gained insightful knowledge about the processes of founding a start-up.

Keep an eye out on the Research Bazaar blog page if you would like to participate in the next Shark’s Den; I would highly recommend it because of all the great people you get to meet, and the awesome creative ideas that will be shared!