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Careers, Employability and Enterprise
The bustling Careers and Enterprise Centre entrance in the Palatine Centre

Blueprint Startup Challenge

Ready to Build Your Blueprint for Success?

Are you an emerging entrepreneur with a big idea? Ready to take your startup vision to the next level? The Blueprint Startup Challenge is your opportunity to refine, build, and launch your early-stage business — with the chance to win a share of a £35,000 prize fund!

Brought to you by the Hazan Venture Lab, this is Durham University’s longest-running business ideas competition, providing a launchpad for student and graduate ventures. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to accelerate your growth, we’re here to support you from the idea stage all the way to business launch.

Join other driven founders in a multi-round competition featuring:

  • Expert-led workshops
  • 1:1 advice and guidance
  • Networking and social events
  • Access to co-working space
  • Grant funding

Previous winners have included: 

  • 2025: UniqShade - Corey Stewart & Jinyi Xuan - a smart in-store device that scans customers’ skin tones and dispenses a perfectly matched foundation blend.
  • 2024: GroundUp – Rhea Dabriwala & Naveen Shivalingam - An end-to-end process that transforms waste into biochar. 
  • 2023: Book Health - Alex Keith & Olly Page - Healthcare innovation using a centralised API to allow for digital integration of various clinician factors.
  • 2022: Hey! Food is Ready - Yuru Guo & Francesca Docker - An online marketplace which connects approved home cooks from multicultural backgrounds to cater for people looking for authentic, wholesome, homemade food.
  • 2021: Anchor Orbital - Yuk Chi Chan, David Dubinsky, Yin Yukun & Ushantha Wanigaratne - Creators of a satellite thruster that allows satellites to orbit closer to the Earth

Cash Prizes

Finalists compete in the Grand Final in June 2026 to win a range of prizes from £1,000 to £10,000 to help launch their startup!

Find out more about Blueprint Startup Challenge at our next discovery session on Wednesday 3rd December, sign up here or contact Steve Bowden for further information.

 

The Blueprint Startup Challenge is kindly supported by gifts from Santander Universities UK and Richard King, alumnus of Durham University.