A start-up business that aims to improve the lives of the elderly has won the Ingenuity Impact Entrepreneur of the Year award from Nuffield Health in the Ingenuity Impact Showcase 2024.
Run by the University of Nottingham and in partnership with Nuffield Health, the Ingenuity Programme provides start-up skills and training, networking, mentoring, and routes to funding for early-stage impact-driven businesses to make social, health and environmental change.
The most impactful ideas are awarded a top prize and receive a share of £75,000 funding to help them in the early stages of their entrepreneurial journeys.
The programme supports participants to turn ideas for change into exciting new ventures and adopts an agile and flexible approach to ensure we are diverse, inclusive, and accessible.
The Ingenuity Programme is designed to demystify entrepreneurship and support those not currently served by existing services available in Nottingham and in the UK’s start-up landscape. This includes engaging with and supporting underserved and underrepresented groups both from within the university and its local communities.
This year, the overall winner was Max Bateson from HYGGE who won the Ingenuity Impact Entrepreneur of the Year award, supported by Nuffield Health.
HYGGE aims to provide innovative solutions for the challenges of the UK’s aging population, integrating modern technology, adaptable living spaces, and a supportive environment to support caregivers and improve the lives of the elderly. This also aims to reduce the burden on informal carers and provide a cost-effective alternative to traditional care homes, promoting independence and social interaction for the elderly.
Max Bateson, Health Champion and Impact Entrepreneur of the Year, said: “Really happy to have gotten this far and to be able to present HYGGE. For me, the best part of this has been meeting so many people along the way who have been so great in offering expertise to help HYGGE.