Upcoming Events

Claire Rampen, an alumna who graduated in 2013 with an MA (Hons) French and Spanish with Linguistics, is the co-founder of Reath. A circular economy software start-up, Reath is tackling the challenge of single-use packaging and systems, with technology and design at the core. Reath was founded on the belief that scaling the circular economy will be a critical challenge in the coming decade. The journey began with the same goal but a completely different approach (it’s never a straight line!) and is now backed by investors and other partners like Zero Waste Scotland.

Claire’s talk, followed by a Q&A, focuses on what it’s like to start a business with big ambition in an emerging field, trying to fundamentally change a system, and what it has taught her along the way

Nicolai Prydz is an author, innovator, and serial entrepreneur. He graduated from the University of St Andrews in 1995 and went straight into one of the first digital startups in 1996. Since then he has started several companies, among them is Participant.co.uk. 

 Nicolai spoke to us about his experiences as an entrepreneur, which he chronicles in his new book ‘Start-up Hell’. Nicolai tells us the inspirational and honest story of the real start-up life; of ups and downs, and about everything that happens when we challenge our comfort zone.

Sagar Kumar, at the age of only 23, is a serial entrepreneur, life coach, and charity founder. Currently based in Glasgow, he is working on projects in health, real estate, music, film, and the VS Foundation (St Andrews).

Sagar, an alumnus who graduated in 2020 with a BSc (Hons) Management, will tell his story and then take questions from the audience.

Ejaj Ahmad, the founder and president of Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC), the country’s first leadership institute. Ejaj developed the idea of BYLC while he was a graduate student at Harvard between 2006 and 2008 and established the non-profit in Bangladesh in January 2009 with the vision of creating a more just, prosperous and inclusive society by training the next generation of leaders. 

Dr Ross Gillanders is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Physics and Astronomy. He has a background in instrumentation and physical chemistry, with two decades of experience in optical sensor development across industry and academia for water quality, food packaging, and explosives.

He is also founder of Lightwater Sensors and winner of the Converge KickStart Challenge.

Lightwater Sensors is a spin-out company to commercialise innovative optical sensors for real-time detection of emerging water contaminants.

Daphne is a co-founder of Community Aid St Andrews (CASA). CASA was established in the summer of 2020 as a community group which organised an incredible response to the COVID-19 pandemic, powered by volunteers from the St Andrews, including healthcare professionals, representatives of key groups and community members.

Daphne’s talk discusses how an initiative like CASA promotes the implementation of a transformational change model, and how an idea/concept can be implemented on a local and national level.