Anna Borsotti from Waterford, a 2nd year Criminal Justice student at SETU recently won a prize of seed funding investment for her new idea entitled ‘Walk Safe’ in the Enactus Citi Foundation Pathways to Success competition. Citi FDN is part of Citibank group.
Anna's journey to success saw her and fellow SETU student Callum O’Dwyer from Kilkenny, a 4th year Bachelor of Business student shortlisted to the final 15 from dozens of entries from other Irish universities.
Following a live pitch to a panel of judges which took place in the Citibank offices in Dublin In December, the shortlist was narrowed down again to just 10 student projects and Anna was successful in gaining one of the coveted prizes for her idea ‘Walk Safe’. Anna’s business idea is a corporate social enterprise called Walk Safe and is centred on keeping people (often women) safe as they walk home (or elsewhere) after dark.
This is an app that will help people feel safer when walking home alone and has several settings depending on the situation of the user.
Seed funding
Anna was awarded seed funding of €1,000 to develop her new idea in addition to mentoring from Citigroup. The prize also includes invitations to training days in January and March which will help develop and refine her idea, before presenting it to a panel of Citibank judges and Enactus alumni at a showcase event next year, where further investment could be won.
“In addition to Anna’s success, Callum’s idea ‘How to Social’ received great feedback from the judges and is now going forward to the Enactus national competition,” said Dr Sharon O’Brien, Lecturer in Enterprise and Management.
“Making the shortlist is a fantastic achievement by these students. This is the first time that SETU has had students enter this competition”.
Both students were supported by Dr Sharon O’Brien and Dr John Organ, Growth Hub SETU on the Waterford Campus.
