The Unloc Enterprise Academy is a programme run by U.K. social enterprise, Unloc. The Academy’s mission is to enable schools and colleges to inspire the enterprising mindsets of their young people and develop skills through setting up and testing their own businesses. Unloc and the Enterprise Academy were established in 2014 by co-founders Hayden Taylor and Ben Dowling, successful young entrepreneurs working in business from a young age.

A Portsmouth-based initiative dedicated to motivating young people to start their own businesses – to launch the Unloc Enterprise Challenge. This project will offer young entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their start up idea in a one minute video, and winners will receive a £5,000 prize and mentorship to get their business idea off the ground.

The competition is open to 16-25 year old entrepreneurs in the U.K., France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden until the 4th June at 5pm BST, and ideas will be judged on their creativity, sustainability and viability. Interested candidates can apply here.

Verizon is dedicated to fostering innovation across the globe, funding initiatives like this along with its Humanability campaign, Innovative Learning Initiative and Innovation Program operating across the world.

James Montgomery, head of HR for Verizon EMEA comments:

“Verizon strongly believes that by promoting entrepreneurship we can promote independence, innovation and success. The Verizon team regularly works with schools and college groups to help students develop the business and technology skills required in the modern workplace, and working with Unloc on this competition is a natural extension of those initiatives. We’re looking forward to seeing the ideas this competition generates – and also to supporting the winning entrepreneur as they take their idea from concept to reality.” 

Hayden Taylor, co-Founder and Managing Director of Unloc comments:

“We are delighted to have joined forces with Verizon to launch the Unloc Enterprise Challenge. Verizon’s focus on fostering innovation makes the company an ideal partner for the Challenge. We’re looking forward to seeing what ideas European entrepreneurs are able to generate – and helping one lucky winner take the first step to turning their idea into a business.”

The Unloc Enterprise Academy is a programme run by U.K. social enterprise, Unloc. The Academy’s mission is to enable schools and colleges to inspire the enterprising mindsets of their young people and develop skills through setting up and testing their own businesses. Unloc and the Enterprise Academy were established in 2014 by co-founders Hayden Taylor and Ben Dowling, successful young entrepreneurs working in business from a young age.

Unloc has expanded-rapidly in recent years from a local business ran by two young-entrepreneurs into a national operation and now has partnerships with over 100 leading schools and colleges giving it a presence across the U.K. The organisation is now expanding its operations into Europe, with this competition its first initiative on the pan-European stage.