{"id":18,"date":"2019-06-03T12:01:56","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T11:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/enterprisesu\/?p=18"},"modified":"2025-07-30T08:06:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T07:06:37","slug":"startup-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/2019\/06\/03\/startup-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"Startup Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Startup Fest 2018 entices entrepreneurs of the future at Queen\u2019s University Belfast<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s week 1 of teaching, the infamous \u2018Freshers\u2019 Week\u2019 and\nthe perfect opportunity to get students involved in that all-important\n\u2018extracurricular activity\u2019 that employers are so keen to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can sign up to archery, caving, quidditch and  debating. \nThey can travel the world volunteering and teach English in China.  Skills development is important.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one skill that is being more and more sought after is\nthe entrepreneurial graduate, or rather, the \u2018intrapreneur\u2019.  The\nstudent who can think independently, solve problems and think creatively.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Queen\u2019s\nUniversity, entrepreneurship is intrinsically woven throughout modules and\nactivities and the mission is to deliver graduates who are equipped for the\nfuture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week,\nQUB organised an event with a difference. \nStartup Fest 2018 was first and foremost a one-day festival with music,\nperformers, food and a giant climbing wall, but it was also about inspiring\nstudents to get more involved in entrepreneurial activity.  Many students see entrepreneurship as\n\u2018something for business students\u2019, and the aim was to create an awareness of\nenterprise as a viable option for all, whether this be to improve their\nemployability skills or indeed to enable a student to start a business.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of those\ninvolved including the food vendors, musicians, performers and visiting\norganisations were either entrepreneurs or part of the entrepreneurial support\neco system in Northern Ireland.  They\nwere briefed prior to the event to ensure that they engaged with students and\ninspired them with their entrepreneurial story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were\nfood vendors, a giant climbing wall, student performers and a music stage with\nyoung musicians from local charity the \u2018Oh Yeah Centre\u2019.   Other areas included the \u2018Gallery of First\nAttempts\u2019 (prototypes), a \u2018Test Your Entrepreneurial Mindset\u2019 corner, a \u2018Quirky\nMarket\u2019 with student entrepreneurs selling their creations, and a \u2018Pitching\nCorner\u2019 run by Catalyst Inc. (the local Science Park).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A yellow\ndinosaur visited the festival, and local enterprise support organisations also\nshowed their support and were present to advise students including Princes\nTrust and Young Enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Santander\nFunded \u2018Enterprise Pod\u2019 was launched at the festival  and housed visiting \u2018experts\u2019 who provided\nspecialist advice to students throughout the day on all things start-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nEnterprise Pod will travel throughout Queen\u2019s University in the upcoming\nsemesters, bringing entrepreneurial inspiration to students in their faculties\nand schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of\n2,559 students visited Startup Fest, and 790 undergrad and postgrad students\nsigned up to get involved in further activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this\nyear, (previous to Startup Fest) Queen\u2019s University utilised the Santander\nEnterprise & Entrepreneurship Project Fund to run a student accelerator,\nand to facilitate a trip to Silicon Valley for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018Startup Fest 2018 has been a great opportunity to engage with and inspire students from a whole range of disciplines and backgrounds. We look forward to working with many new students in the upcoming year at Queen\u2019s University Belfast\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat Maguire, Enterprise Development Officer, Enterprise SU \u2013 QUB Students\u2019 Union<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u2018The StartUp Fest was a fantastic showcase of activity with students invited to explore the entrepreneurial support that they have at their fingertips across Queen\u2019s University Belfast and throughout Northern Ireland. We had passionate local start-ups, entrepreneurial experts and Queen\u2019s Enterprise staff on hand to share and inspire students to take action and consider bringing their ventures to life. We look forward to supporting all those who engaged with us on the day and growing this community of Queen\u2019s entrepreneurs.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanne Graham, Postgraduate Employability & Enterprise Manager, The Graduate School<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All photographs taken by Aurora Photography: <\/em>https:\/\/aurorapa.com\/<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Startup Fest 2018 entices entrepreneurs of the future at Queen\u2019s University Belfast It\u2019s week 1 of teaching, the infamous \u2018Freshers\u2019 Week\u2019 and the perfect opportunity to get students involved in that all-important \u2018extracurricular activity\u2019 that employers are so keen to see. They can sign up to archery, caving, quidditch and  debating.  They can travel the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,299,66],"tags":[226,227,228,229,230],"class_list":{"0":"post-18","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-events-activities","8":"category-student-businesses","9":"category-upskilling-opportunities","10":"tag-enterprisesu","11":"tag-entrepreneurship","12":"tag-lovequb","13":"tag-startup","14":"tag-studentstartups","15":"czr-hentry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/06\/Untitled-design-3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6B2ST-i","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4518,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions\/4518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}