Young Brighton entrepreneur wins national award

Award winners were announced today by Innovate UK and The Prince’s Trust.

The Young Innovators Awards recognise young people from across the UK with great business ideas who have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs and future leaders in innovation.

Marcus Comaschi aged 26, has a goal to develop a system that produces fresh and healthy food locally in the UK. His innovation is GyroPlant, a sustainable and scalable technology that utilises movement and gravity to enhance the growth of food.

He will benefit from a £5,000 grant, one-on-one business coaching and an allowance to cover living costs.

There were an unprecedented level of entries for the latest awards, with an 87% increase in applications year-on-year. A total of 64 young people across the country received an award - double the number of award winners/recipients of previous years.

With recent research showing over a third of 18 to 34 year olds want to launch an independent enterprise in 2021, compared to 28% of 35 to 54 year olds, it’s even more important the support is available to those who want to venture into starting a business.

The programme is set to continue awarding young people from diverse backgrounds until at least 2023.

Commenting on their award and project, Christopher Elliot said, “Untrapped’s offering will significantly reduce the total cost of student letting, improve compliance and drive the overall market standards. I am both thrilled and honoured to have been selected for the Innovate UK award. I hope the funding and support will enable me to soft test the product in at least two major cities in the UK.”

Emily Nott, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Innovate UK says: “With 2020 proving to be an incredibly difficult year, maintaining our focus on Young Innovators was a priority for Innovate UK since finding the great entrepreneurial minds of the future is more important than ever. Working alongside this year’s winners, Innovate UK will help them grow and develop their business idea to make the world a better, and more innovative place. We can’t wait to see what they achieve this year.”

If you’re an inspiring young innovator, check out how Innovate UK could support you by visiting: www.ktn-uk.org/programme/young-innovators/

See also: View all the stunning winningh pictures from Sussex Wildlife photo award