UCL's entrepreneurship hub in King's Cross has supported thousands of staff, students and graduates since it opened its doors in 2015. Over 600 of them have gone on to launch their own startups. Here, on World Entrepreneurs Day, we look back at some of the many success stories.
"Without the support we've had from UCL, we'd very likely still be a small business run from our kitchen table in our spare time."
These are the words of Jacob Wedderburn-Day (MSc Economics 2016) who co-founded his own startup Stasher in 2015, with support from the Hatchery incubator programme, which is located at BaseKX, and run by UCL Innovation & Enterprise.
Stasher provides a flexible, secure, and budget-friendly solution for travellers, allowing them to book insured luggage storage at vetted local businesses such as hotels and shops. The startup has partnered with companies including Booking.com, GetYourGuide, Premier Inn, and Expedia.
The business Jacob set up with friend Anthony Collias now handles more than 2 million bags a year. The platform operates in over 1,000 cities across 75 countries and is experiencing triple-digit growth, with plans to expand further this year.
Jacob and Anthony are among the hundreds of students and graduates who've grown their own ventures with support from UCL in the last decade.
Every student, staff member and recent graduate at the university is eligible to access the free support on offer at BaseKX, UCL's entrepreneurship hub, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.
The support at BaseKX helps inspiring ideas and ventures come to life at UCL, giving students, staff and alumni the entrepreneurial skills, tools and confidence they need to create their own exciting future.
Entrepreneurs who wish to grow their ventures can apply to join UCL's equity free Hatchery startup incubator programme. Those accepted then have access to two years of focused support, working alongside UCL's entrepreneurship business advisors, plus free office space in King's Cross.
More than 600 new student startups were launched at UCL between 2014 to 2024. Collectively these businesses have raised over £461 million in external investment and employ over 1,900 people.
"The support we received from UCL was essential in giving structure to our early ideas," says Jacob. "It helped us challenge our assumptions and gave us the confidence to take our pitch to real investors and secure our first funding round. BaseKX became our first proper office, and I have very fond memories of our time there and the friendships we made along the way."
