WaveX Wins Imperial College's Venture Catalyst Challenge 2023
A startup developing wave energy converters that can be embedded under the seabed has been named as one of Imperial's most promising new businesses.
WaveX won the Venture Catalyst Challenge 2023 for developing an innovative solution for making wave energy more reliable and less expensive. The startup was founded by Mechanical Engineering graduate Thomas Allen, Environmental graduate Will Evans, PhD student Jacob Francis, alongside Clement Puech and Olivier Bourdin.
Now in its tenth year, the Venture Catalyst Challenge (VCC) is the College's largest entrepreneurial competition for students and alumni, providing support for innovators to develop their ideas for commercialisation. WaveX took home a total prize of £30,000 after competing against four other startups in the VCC Grand Final.
This year's competition saw 25 of the most innovative teams take part in a series of workshops, 1-to-1 coaching and meetings with experts to help them develop their ideas in five subject tracks - AI & Robotics, Creative & Consumer, Digital & Finance, Energy & Environment and Health & Wellbeing.