On Thursday 16 April, 13 student businesses stepped into QUB Dragons’ Den, each pitching for a share of the £25,000 prize pot.
The competition, delivered by SU Enterprise, gives participants the opportunity to secure everything they need to kick-start their business journey. This includes equity‑free funding, hot-desking space in ‘SU CoWork’ in the Students’ Union, and tailored mentoring and support to help bring their ventures to life.
After an exciting and competitive finale, the winners are:
1st Place: SwingSight
£12,500 was awarded to Oliver Woodward (Software Engineering student) for SwingSight, an AI golf coaching app that analyses swing videos from a smartphone and provides instant feedback and personalised drills.
2nd Place: TriaTech
£7,500 was awarded to Padraig MacHenry (Software Development Masters student) for TriaTech, an AI-powered call management system for GP practices that triages patient calls and prioritises urgent cases automatically.
3rd Place: Fortiva Health
£5,000 was awarded to Alyna Nanji (Dentistry student) for Fortiva Health, a social enterprise improving maternal and child health in East Africa by fortifying staple foods with folic acid and other essential micronutrients.
Spot Prizes:
Represented (Gabrielle Johnston) and LexisHear (Sophie McManus) also received spot prizes of £1,500 for their pitches:
All other teams received £500 in recognition of their hard work! Our 13 student businesses that took part in the QUB Dragons’ Den final were:
TriaTech (Padraig MacHenry) 
Balvedhaa (Vidhya Gummadavelli) 
SwingSight (Oliver Woodward) 
AugmentaFire (Eben Rainey) 
Cognisync (Saira Nagi) 
Fortiva Health (Alyna Nanji) 
SnoozeCapz (Valerie Chen) 
Virtual Medic (Abhay Shivamurthy) 
Speed Notes (Lucy Tyrrell) 
Velocity Practice (Colm Daly, Alex Dunne, Fiyinfoluwa Owolabi, Noah Paynter) 
Represented (Gabrielle Johnston) 
Spark (Cathal McEvoy, Rory Brolly, Michael McKey) 
LexisHear (Sophie McManus)
Their pitches marked the culmination of months of dedication, with every finalist investing significant time and effort into refining their ideas ahead of facing the Dragons.
Our Dragons were a line-up of business leaders, including: Eoin McMullan, Parter of Hill Vellacott; Paul Eastwood, Partner of Tughans Solicitors; Kirsty Dillon, Commercial Manager at MCS Group; Roger Warnock, Chief Executive Officer of Young Social Innovators; and Anne Dornan, Entrepreneurial Networks Manager of Queen’s University Belfast.
Since its inception, QUB Dragons’ Den has been a launchpad for students at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey, and we wish all our finalists and winners great success with their business ideas!
A big thanks to our competition sponsors: Tughans Solicitors, Hill Vellacott, Engineers and Scientists in Business Fellowship, MCS Recruitment, and QUBIS.
QUB Dragons’ Den will return in 2027. Find out how else SU Enterprise can support your business idea and entrepreneurial skills here.
