Students win grant

Christopher Canty and Freya Christiansen Oropeza, who study the bachelor’s degree Innovation and Entrepreneurship, have been awarded the grant Innovative Business of 20.000 DKK for their project MealMatch.

- It is exciting and motivational that professionals have chosen our app as the best among many good ideas, says Christopher Canty.

Christopher Canty and Freya Christiansen Oropeza have invented an app that connects people with food allergy, vegetarians/vegans and others with specific demands on their diet with restaurants that meet their needs.

Covers half the expenses

This year the applications were judged by the entrepreneurs Mads Peter Veiby (co-founder of M1 A/S, SpilNU A/S and PARKPARK A/S) and Jacob Risgaard (co-founder of coolshop.dk).

- It makes a huge difference for us that our idea is acclaimed and that we get the attention. The grant means that we can cover half the expenses to make the app, says Christopher Canty.

- The judges emphasised that it is a viable idea. They have seen a need and that there are some technologies and services, which exist, that you can combine and get a new product, says assistant lecturer Maria Sommer from Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

- The judges would use the app themselves. They also argued that it is a good idea when you consider how many people are suffering from allergy.

Has vital importance

The grant is given to students and teachers at mercantile vocational colleges, at commercial colleges and at business academies that make their mark by developing innovative and commercially sustainable ideas and business solutions.

- For students 20.000 DKK can make a huge difference. It can be the thing that ensures that they can develop their app, since they do not have the skills themselves. It can get make their idea become reality. Among students, who work with their own idea, we often see that a grant has vital importance for those, who go from idea to an actual launch, says Maria Sommer.

The jury's standards are based on initiatives that focus on turning a good idea into a good business.

- We are not going on holiday or anything like that. The money will be spend on developing the app and both Freya and I plan to do our internship in our own company where we have to do the hard work, says Christopher Canty.

FACTS

Why they were awarded the grant:

MealMatch is an app-based communication channel that connects restaurants with guests, who have specific needs when it comes to food, nutrition and health. Christopher Canty and Freya Christiansen Oropeza receives the grant of 20.000 DKK because their concept connects with an increasing target group of for example gluten allergic persons, vegetarians and persons, who chose to live a life with certain food habits. The assessment is that there is a good market potential in the solution that is worth supporting.

This article originally appeared in Danish.