The Tiger’s Pen is an opportunity for early-stage entrepreneurs, known as “Tiger cubs,” to pitch their business ideas to a panel of seasoned investors.

These start-ups, who have only recently embarked on their business journey, had the chance to present their concepts, gain valuable feedback, and potentially secure up to £10,000 in capital investment along with mentorship from the investors.

Each start-up has just 20 minutes to present their ideas, aiming to inspire the panel of investors, showcase their potential, and compete for not only the investment but also the prestigious “Best Pitch Winner” Wildcard Prize.

The investors at Tiger’s Pen
Aiden Dunning – Cripps
Matt Turner MBE – Creative Pod UK
Damien Burke – Custom Credit
Stuart Noakes – Carpenter Box
Stefan Hart – Grayburn Hart

The “Best Pitch Winner” award went to Marilyn Chelliah of Durban Curry Club, who stood out with her clear message, excellent presentation, and well-developed product. Congratulations to Marilyn on her well-deserved win! A big thank you to Brighton & Hove Museums for the use of the Old Court House, and a big thank you to Jo Stuart of Ayres Consulting for being our compere for the day.

Innovation Unleashed: The Tiger’s Pen Returns

On the 12th of December 2024, The Tiger’s Pen – part of Network Xpress – hosted a unique event at the University of Brighton. Organised by Sonny Cutting, founder of The Tiger’s Pen and Julian Riano of Brighton University, the Tiger’s Pen was an opportunity for aspiring student entrepreneurs to present their own business ideas to an experienced panel of business owners.

The panel of judges (the ‘Tigers’) comprised Aiden Dunning (Cripps), Tanya Petherick (Club Central), Claire Griffiths (Thrive in Business), Rachael Dines (Shake It Up Creative), Kyriakos Baxevanis (Nostos, Hove and Little Jasmine Health Spas) and Sonny Cutting, (Network Xpress.)

Throughout the event, the Tigers heard pitches for the following business ideas:

• A business for mentors called Life Coach which enabled coaches to sign up for an Online booking platform: Enabling clients to book sessions directly with coaches, offering flexibility and convenience, potential for Pay-per-session or Premium Membership services.

• A sustainability concept with Paper to Petals was presented as a gift box that could bring joy to people’s lives by utilising Seed Paper Craft ideas into bio-degradable gardening boxes, allowing them to organically showcase the transformation process from paper to petals.

• A Pet App, giving owners complete peace of mind and revolutionising the care of your furry friend. Welcome to Hollar. The app idea presented to us would offer a GPS collar tracker giving constant monitoring of your pet’s location and health metrics on a subscription.

• An innovative sports league idea called Outfield which would offer a 6 a side football tournament once a year with a football festival for 18 – 25 year olds. Outfield is more than just a football league; it’s a community and society: Let’s kick off the fun together!

With such innovative ideas, the Tigers were thoroughly impressed by the quality of the pitches and applauded their concepts and ideas. On the day, there was a clear winner with Outfield who won the ‘Best Pitch Prize’ which is also quite ironic, as that’s where they play their games on the pitch!

The team of Outfield won £250 as a cash prize for their innovative sports league idea.

This event was one to build confidence, encourage boldness and highlight the value of thinking differently – skills an entrepreneur leans on for success. See you again next year, thank you.

Thank you to everyone for attending the 12th December 2024 event, we had fantastic pitches from all of the students, and a very high level of detail in the concepts and ideas given. Thanks also to Julian for putting the programme together and to our panel judges for giving up their time to support the students.