Exeter student to represent UK at Global Student Entrepreneur Awards
Tom Charman, a final year student at the University of Exeter, has been given the opportunity to represent the United Kingdom at the World Finals of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards in Bangkok, hosted by the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) on 10th May 2016, with his business KOMPAS.
The Annual Competition is open to students who have created and run their own business for at least six months alongside their studies, with the finals hosting 50 finalists from 50 countries around the world.Tom decided to enter the competition after co-founding KOMPAS, an innovative tech-travel application with his team in September 2014.
After his initial application, he was selected along with two other students, to represent the UK at the European Finals in Berlin, where a maximum of one student from each country would be chosen to proceed to the World Final. Having passed the first stages, Tom travelled to Berlin to pitch KOMPAS to a panel of industry experts, including the CFO of Immobilien Scout (the number one provider for accommodation in Germany) and other seasoned businesspeople.
As a result of his pitch, company and experience, he was selected to represent the UK at the World Finals. With the opportunity to win a $20,000 prize, Tom will be joined by over 1,300 businesspeople from all over the world, as part of EO’s Global Leadership Conference.
The competition aims to highlight those that stand out from other students, and the judging criteria is based on both the entrepreneur and the business, which makes this competition as much about the entrepreneur, highlighting their extra-curricular activities as they continue to study at the same time.
Tom studies BSc Economics and Politics with European Study. He’s already put his degree to use, as he continues to work on KOMPAS, focusing specifically on personalising the travel industry through the use of machine learning and smart algorithms. KOMPAS aims to revolutionise on-stay experiences worldwide.
