SetSquared, a UK-based association for student entrepreneurs from the local universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey, has presented ModMyPi with its Graduate Start-Up Award.

Jacob Marsh from University of Exeter launched ModMyPi (pictured) in March 2012 after working on cases for the Raspberry Pi minicomputer that produced almost £1m ($1.5m) in year one with £100,000 profit.

Other winners were:

  • · James Munro-Boon, an architecture graduate from the University of Bath, who won the Social Enterprise Project Award for setting up Elephant Branded, which works with local villagers in Africa to make hand-made products from recycled materials.
  • · The Young Ones (winner of Student Start-Up Award) – a business founded by University of Exeter students Tom Carson and Chris Rea in response to the ‘onesie’ craze which took off in 2010. The duo spotted a gap in the market and now supplies custom onesies to over 20 universities in the UK, with end users ranging from individuals to sporting groups and societies. The core of the Young Ones business model is the ability to quickly spot trending fashions and source high quality but lower priced alternatives. This has led to the company turning over £120,000 with a profit of £50,000 to date and making headway in the American university market.
  • The Basecamp Project (Best Student Enterprise Experience Award winner). Basecamp is run by students for students (supported by the Research, Enterprise & Development Division) at the University of Bristol. It has provided support to almost 100 student businesses at the University of Bristol. 
  • Ray Crispin (Bristol), David Solomides (Exeter), Janet Preston (Surrey), John Hall (Southampton) and Nick Laing (Bath), who all received Business Mentor of the Year awards.
  • Charlotte Pearce (University of Southampton), Edward Noel (University of Exeter), Gemma-Josiane Smith (University of Bristol), Jian Yi Oh (University of Bath) and Kevin Patrick (University of Surrey), who were all named Student Enterprise Champions.
  •  AmpiSolutions (People’s Choice – voted for by attendees at the awards) is a company researching and developing ways of improving pre-hospital care in the UK and worldwide.