Derry NWRC student’s business could be the ‘Google Earth of Sporting Facilities’ 

A North West Regional College (NWRC) student who proposed a business idea that aims to become the “Google Earth of Sports Venues” has won the college’s first-ever IDEATOR awards.

Exercise Science student Conan McShane is the owner of the digital platform ‘Fitness Maps’ which greatly impressed the judges at IDEATOR’s final pitch event held on the Strand Road campus.

The Fitness Maps concept offers an in-depth search engine for sports facilities in the UK, providing information such as opening times, busiest and quietest times, facilities on offer and much more.

This is the first year of the NWRC IDEATOR Awards, giving away £4,000 in cash prizes to college students, staff and young alumni. The competition, led by Alastair Cameron, the NWRC’s first-ever Entrepreneur in Residence, was created to encourage and reward entrepreneurial thinking.

Submitted business ideas were shortlisted and 13 finalists were invited to compete for one of the 7 cash prizes on offer by presenting their early-stage ideas and ventures to a high-level panel of judges at a special IDEATOR Awards event.

Alastair Cameron, who is a co-founder of Startacus alongside his role at NWRC, said: “I was very inspired and really impressed by the quality and range of pitches presented. It was great to bring NWRC students, alumni and staff together for this exciting event and it gives me great hope for the future that the college will continue to push and encourage this entrepreneurial spirit.

“I would like to thank all of our sponsors – The Lab Fund, RealTime Recruitment, Alchemy Technology, British Business Bank, Tughans and Satori Accounting.”

Gillian Moss, Head of Client Services at NWRC, said: “The IDEATOR Awards finals were a thoroughly enjoyable event and I congratulate everyone who came out to pitch. At NWRC, we are committed to supporting our students to increase their potential and creative flair to advance entrepreneurship and start-up culture throughout the college.”

Other IDEATORS winners included student Christian Kotey with his idea of ​​Nupitch, a creative service and future platform for startup filmmakers to empower investors, and students Angela McNutt and Stacey Hinfey, who inspired the jury with their pitch for Core Collective , a consulting service focused on 1-2-1 support, workshops and a future app, inspired part-time contributor Pragya Sharma, the founder of Gran Lab, a green medtech startup aimed at curing psoriasis and eczema, NWRC- Alumni Ciaran Devine, who runs an exciting E-Tuk operating service, Michael Kavanagh with his Retro Gaming business idea, and Nathan Frazer with Get Gigged, a tech marketplace for local gigs.