The Innovation Studio at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) showcased both alumni and resident innovators at this year’s leading innovation and business growth programme, Venturefest South (VFS).
Billed as its most dynamic festival of innovation yet, the hugely successful event, now in its eighth year, attracted hundreds of businesses, investors, and thought leaders from across the South of England, making it a prime networking and collaboration opportunity for those involved in the innovation landscape.
Clare Trevanion from the Innovation Studio comments, “We were all very excited about this, our first year at Venturefest South. The Innovation Studio operates as a lab for creative technologies and a co-working space for start-ups, including alumni and regional enterprises who can access our kit for prototyping and testing.
“To take a mixed group of alumni and our studio residents with us was brilliant, an amazing opportunity for all of them to speak with people in their sector, to get feedback, and to hopefully secure investors, buyers, and customers."
Among those exhibiting their innovations at VFS this year was 2024 AUB BA (Hons) Graphic Design graduate Amelia Blantern.
“I went to Venturefest with my final project from the third year, Steady, a mobility device I designed for older adults," Amelia says. "As well as the device itself, I designed the user’s experience every – steady – step of the way. From awareness and discovery, through consideration, usage, retention, through to commitment.
“Although I’d taken Steady to awards shows while I was still a student, Venturefest was definitely a big step up. Instead of my neighbours being students, I was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other innovators and entrepreneurs.
“I was pretty nervous, but seeing my stand all set up, I was really proud, I felt that Steady held its own. The feedback I got from visitors was amazing, I met some really interesting people and had lots of promising conversations. It was an incredible experience for me as a new graduate.”
Also exhibiting this year was Ekaterina Savosina, an AUB alumna and founder of Design in VR, located at the Innovation Studio.
For the past three-and-a-half years, Ekaterina has developed and delivered VR design workshops to hundreds of students at AUB. Design in VR is an education provider of creative team-building workshops and certified training programmes for aspiring artist and design professionals in immersive future technology, such as VR, AR and AI.
“The future of design lies in the seamless convergence of cutting-edge technologies," Ekaterina explains. “At Design in VR, we're empowering the next generation of creative visionaries to harness the power of VR, AR, and AI to redefine what's possible in their craft.
“It was a truly remarkable experience to exhibit here at Venturefest and have the opportunity to demonstrate the transformative potential of VR technology to the attendees. The chance to connect with like-minded individuals passionate about emerging technologies was invaluable. These conversations have opened the door to exciting possibilities for future collaboration.”
They were also joined by MA Digital Fashion and Innovation student Burcu (Bee) Aslan Yilmaz. Alongside her studies, Burcu has founded LAJI, a digital fashion platform designed to reduce waste in the fashion industry through digital modelling, design and sampling.
“Venturefest turned out to be an amazing event, exceeding all my expectations," Bee says. “There was a lot of interest in LAJI’s business model and services, I had some amazing feedback from people who said LAJI was incredible and innovative, especially about the R&D project I’m working on, Laji-AI-Fit, that aims to reduce the need for physical samples entirely. So many attendees were intrigued by the project that they kept introducing me to others who wanted to learn more!
“One highlight was a collaboration offer from the South Hampshire College Group to help develop a minimum viable prototype for Laji-AI-Fit. Additionally, I had the pleasure of meeting Beverley Poole, an award-winning business builder and mentor, who is very excited about the project and has offered her support to bring it to life."
VFS’s agenda covered a wide range of engaging talks, panel discussions, and interactive experiences to inspire startups, entrepreneurs, and established businesses, including an Open Mic Competition.
One of the judges at the Open Mic, Head of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at AUB’s Innovation Studio, Daniel Cox, commented, “This was a really enjoyable and inspirational competition. Competitors had just three minutes to pitch their latest and greatest idea to us and an enthusiastic audience of innovators, investors and entrepreneurs.
“The ideas were incredible and the people behind them even more so. You had complete beginners like Amelia with Steady, who did brilliantly, pitching against companies with 25 years’ experience with a new product or medical development companies like Renovos.
“On the day there could only be one winner, and it was the very worthy, Securium, an organisation that provides technologies to help Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), brands and businesses, social media and gaming moderation platforms, and others, to identify sources of potential harm.”
This year's VFS was held on Thursday 14 November at the Utilita Bowl, Southampton.
