{"id":2797,"date":"2024-02-15T08:33:10","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T08:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/?p=2797"},"modified":"2025-04-29T10:11:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T09:11:01","slug":"5-successful-businesses-you-didnt-know-started-at-teesside-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/2024\/02\/15\/5-successful-businesses-you-didnt-know-started-at-teesside-university\/","title":{"rendered":"5 successful businesses you didn\u2019t know got a head start at Teesside University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enrol > study > graduate > get a job. It\u2019s the traditional route that a lot of us imagine when we think of beginning our careers after university. But, it\u2019s not the only path.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some students and graduates want to go their own way and set up a business for themselves. And, at Teesside University, they can do just that through the on-campus incubator, Launchpad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its exciting support programmes help promising entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life through training, workshops and funding. <\/span>And past participants have seen huge growth in the region and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s some<\/span> of the successful businesses you didn\u2019t know got their head start at Teesside University…<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1. Sunday Girl | Magazine<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What was a passion project for a fashion lecturer at Teesside is now an independent magazine, blog, podcast and community celebrating womanhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abigail Dennison set up Sunday Girl<\/a> as an outlet for ‘intellectual girl talk\u2019 covering fashion, politics and feminism. And, since completing the Launchpad enterprise programme, the team behind the mag has expanded to accommodate the growing number of Sunday Girl readers across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celebrities including television presenter Laura Whitmore and reality personality Sophie Habboo have featured on the cover of previous issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abigail said: \u201cWe want to keep Sunday Girl based in this region, no matter how big it might get.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2. Wander Films | Content agency<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Award-winning production company Wander Films has made waves since it was first dreamed up by partners Chlo\u00eb and Lou on a trip to Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pair were successful in their bid for funding from the Launchpad FUEL programme in 2018. Now, Team Wander is made up of more than 20 cool creatives helping companies make an impact with fresh video and podcast content.<\/span><\/p>\n

As well as all of the accolades which Wander Films<\/a> has received since its launch, there\u2019s been tonnes of individual success for co-founder Chlo\u00eb Clover, who was named one of Forbes\u2019 30 under 30.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said: \u201cTeesside University has been invaluable to us as we\u2019ve grown. We\u2019re so lucky to have been supported by so many different departments. We were really pushed to be the best we could be.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

3. Dink | Games studio<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In just two years, Dink<\/a> co-founders Oliver and Luke graduated from Teesside Uni, launched their own games development studio through Launchpad, won an award and worked with the BBC on a children\u2019s TV show.<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span>We started Dink because we love playing and designing video games ourselves, so having this opportunity from Teesside University is amazing,” said Oliver.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company is part of Launchpad PowerUp, an accelerator programme focusing on gaming, and is based on campus. It received access to a studio, equipment and software, and PR and event support.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Office<\/p>\n

4. The Petite Agency| Marketing agency<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

During lockdown, Sophia Gowland noticed the struggles faced by business owners and used her marketing knowhow to create a LinkedIn campaign aimed at developing collaboration and mutual support among them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Capitalising on the momentum of her campaign, Sophia joined the FUEL programme to start her own business, The Petite Agency<\/a>. She went from freelancing to establishing a fully fledged agency,<\/span><\/p>\n

Sophia said: “The FUEL programme was instrumental in the early stages <\/span>of my business journey, and I\u2019ll be forever grateful. It not only helped kickstart my business, but the continued support has helped my business grow.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

5. Radical Forge | Games studio<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Enthusiastic game makers and Teesside graduates Bruce Slater and Freddie Babord founded Radical Forge<\/a> back in 2016 with support from Launchpad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Saying the team has grown since then would be an understatement – there are now more than 70 inventive minds pushing the boundaries of gaming.<\/span><\/p>\n

As well as collaborating with other studios on projects, Radical Forge creates its own games, the first of which involves solving a murder as a family cat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The studio started out in the Launchpad premises before moving into Boho 5 in Middlesbrough.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From an independent magazine to a games studio, these successful businesses are very different. <\/span><\/strong>But, they all have one thing in common – they received support from Teesside University Launchpad.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Have a good idea for a business? Looking to expand a side hustle? Find out how Teesside University Launchpad can support you<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Lauren\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enrol > study > graduate > get a job. It\u2019s the traditional route that a lot of us imagine when we think of beginning our careers after university. But, it\u2019s not the only path. Some students and graduates want to go their own way and set up a business for themselves. And, at Teesside University, … Continue reading “5 successful businesses you didn\u2019t know got a head start at Teesside University”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25094,"featured_media":2810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[62,6,5],"tags":[114,162,86],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/files\/2024\/02\/Img287900.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2797"}],"version-history":[{"count":71,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4155,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions\/4155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/talkingteesside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}