Meet the Entrepreneurs

16th September 2020

The Mayor’s Entrepreneur Programme is a competition supported by the Citi Foundation that invites London students to come up with smart ideas to improve their city.

It can’t have been an easy year to take part in the competition, but very well done and congratulations to the four winners of the 2020 awards:

Creative Industries Award Winner

‘Mykkö’
by Aurelie Fontan and Ashley Granter – Royal College of Art

Mykkö is a compostable and cruelty-free leather alternative. Employing mushrooms’ incredible biological properties, our unique manufacturing system allows for in-house and localised production of this ethical textile. With transparency, scalability and affordability, we are bringing biomaterials to the forefront of a new sustainable fashion industry. 

Environment Award Winner

‘The Tyre Collective’
by Hanson Cheng, Siobhan Anderson, Hugo Richardson and Deepak Mallya – Imperial College & Royal College of Art

We all know tyres wear down, but where does it all go? It turns out tyre wear gets in the air we breathe and is washed into our rivers. We made a nifty device that captures it right as they come off the wheel, saving our lungs and environment.

Health Award Winner

‘Unhindr’
by Ugur Tanriverdi – Imperial College

Unhindr is a London based start-up developing a technology called Roliner. Our bodies change shape throughout the day, but prosthetic limb fittings cannot. Inflexible fitting damages the skin; leaves millions of amputees in pain and dependent on fitting clinics for a lifetime. Roliner is a sock that understands the daily changes and adapts to them automatically without needing hospital visits.

Smart Cities Award Winner

‘Toilets4London’
by Nina Rimsky – Imperial College

Toilets4London is a mobile app that enables people to find toilets wherever they are in the city, with a focus on improving hygiene and accessibility. The app will provide businesses such as cafes, pubs and restaurants a way to open their toilets to the public while charging a small fee to cover maintenance and cleaning.