Students and recent graduates of De Montfort University (DMU) Leicester once again flexed their entrepreneurial muscles for the return of the university’s annual DMU Made Freelancing and Entrepreneurship Awards.
Organised by the DMU Made team (Careers Team) and held in partnership with The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity, the event celebrated the achievements of the university’s budding entrepreneurs at a glitzy ceremony at The Venue on Wednesday 11 March.
The event was opened by the High Sheriff of Leicestershire, who spoke about the value of DMU’s entrepreneurship activities, and the finalists were also treated to a special good-luck message from The Traitors finalist Jack Butler, who told the audience he could empathise with the challenges and rewards of being self-employed.
There were 12 awards handed out on the night across a number of categories as well as the live final of the annual Pitch2Win competition, as is now tradition with the awards night.
Game Art student Carolina Diel was crowned Entrepreneurial Student of the Year, having co-founded an indie game studio during her studies.
Carolina has been developing her business with support from the DMU Made team since last summer. She is hoping to develop her company’s first game, The Wand Thief, a family-friendly strategy card game where players work to recover stolen treasures from a mischievous thief.
Carolina Diel picks up the Entrepreneurial Student of the Year award, presented by Head of careers and Graduate Success at DMU, Richard Bowden
Speaking on the night, Carolina said: I truly wasn’t expecting to win, especially knowing how many amazing ideas students are developing across DMU. This year has been incredibly rewarding, though not without its moments of self-doubt, so it means a lot to have my efforts recognised.
“This award will be a great reminder for me to trust the journey, believe in myself, and to work even harder.”
Sustainable Textile Technologies MSc student Sarah Jones picked up both the Audience and Panel Awards at this year’s Pitch2Win competition, netting her a £2,000 prize for the combined win.
Sponsored by The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity, the Pitch2Win competition is open to all students and recent graduates who have a business idea or are in the early stages of starting one up. This year, 12 pitches went through to a panel of experts, including The Sir Thomas White Loan charity, which was whittled down to three finalists.
Sarah has created an independent company that makes pot plants out of sheep wool.
Winner of Pitch2Win Audience and Panel awards, Sarah Jones with BBC Radio 1's Calum Leslie
Elsewhere, recent graduate Harry Wragg added the Entrepreneurial Graduate of the Year to his award tally for the creation of CPR+Aid. His invention audibly clicks when a person is administering CPR, enabling the user to know they are administering the right pressure when making compressions.
Harry has appeared on BBC East Midlands Today after his simple yet potentially life-saving device won the national Design Innovation in Plastics Award.
The first prize of the night went to Hirshita Soni, who studied for her Master’s in International Business before later joining the university as a Project Officer, where she still currently works.
In 2024, Hirshita founded her company, Sattva Life Yoga, to make yoga wellbeing practices more accessible. Her Leicester-based company offers personalised yoga sessions, working with companies across the city to bring wellness into the workplace. She picked up this year’s Health and Wellbeing award.
BBC Radio 1 Presenter Calum Leslie returned to provide the voiceover for each award and Leicester-based singer-songwriter Harry Pentony wowed the audience with powerful renditions of songs by The Weeknd and Coldplay.
During Harry’s first performance, students who took part in this year’s Future Freelancers programme – developed to help students launch their own freelancing career while they study – received certificates for completing the course.
This year’s programme saw a record 80 students participate every week, making it the University’s biggest ever entrepreneurship programme. It will return after the Summer, with applications opening soon.
Jane Hearst, who is currently studying for her PhD at DMU, scooped the Entrepreneurial Alumni of the Year award for her work spotlighting role models for young children across a range of disabilities, race and gender.
Having previously studied for a BA in Media Production, Jane has written a collection of real-life case studies of diverse leaders to show to children that no job is out of reach.
Jane Hearst, who was named Entrepreneurial Alumni of the Year
Jane gave an inspirational speech to the audience, encouraging any student or recent graduate who wants to take their own idea forward to get involved with the University’s extracurricular initiatives.
Jane said: “Even when I had little or no self-belief, I had Simon’s voice in my head telling me to ignore the doubt, and to remember at least I was doing something about my ideas, whilst many don’t even dare to try”.
She followed her speech by presenting the Technology Award, which was won by Ed Somers. He won the award for designing a pioneering locking system that enables ice hockey players to protect their expensive equipment.
There was also a return to campus for graduate Alfie Dibrowa, who three years ago won a hattrick of awards for his start-up company Pxle.
Alfie presented the Creative Industries Award to winner, Grzegorz Bawol, who founded Stork Pictures UK, a venture bringing contemporary and classic Polish films to audiences across the UK, both in cinemas and through on-demand platforms.
Contour Fashion student Chloe Munday, who has also received support from DMU Made since last summer has since launched her own lingerie brand, CTRL ALT, won the Fashion Award while Jemima Onowe won the Sustainability award for her fashion brand, JEMS, which celebrates sustainability, self-expression and heritage pride.
Finally, there were special awards recognising Entrepreneurship champions. Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation student Paige Billings won the Student Entrepreneurship Ambassador Award. There were two winners for the Staff Entrepreneurship Champion Award; Dr Laura Pearson, a Senior Placement Tutor within the Arts, Design and Humanities faculty, and Patrick McLintock, praised for his exceptional service given to students during a secondment to DMU Made this year.
Simon Baines, Enterprise Project Manager and host for the evening, said: “Every year we are blown away by the ideas, enthusiasm and dedication shown by our current students and recent graduates, who understand that developing skills relevant to entrepreneurship and freelancing are invaluable, whatever their chosen careers paths. It was an absolute honour to co-host this huge, celebratory event with Calum and to honour everybody’s incredible achievements. We’re so grateful to The Sir Thomas White Loan charity for helping us make all of this happen in such spectacular fashion”.
A special awards event, celebrating twenty years of Careers Team supporting DMU’s entrepreneurial students and graduates is planned for the Autumn. Any student or recent graduate who is interested in developing extracurricular skills relating to freelancing and entrepreneurship can get involved with programmes, competitions and events by going to https://www.dmumade.com/take-part.
A full list of winners can be found below:
Health and Wellbeing Award, winner: Harshita Soni (presented by Ruth Subbings and Amy Jackson)
Fashion Award, winner: Chloe Munday (presented by Sarah Thomson and James Burkmar)
Technology Award, winner: Ed Somers (presented by Jane Hearst)
Creative Industries Award, winner: Grzegorz Bawol (presented by Alfie Dibrowa)
Sustainability Award, winner: Jemima Onowe (presented by Professor David Proverbs)
Student Entrepreneurship Ambassador, winner: Paige Billings (presented by Adele Tilley-Jones)
Staff Entrepreneurship Champion, winners: Dr Laura Pearson and Patrick McLintock (presented by Dan Middler)
Entrepreneurial Alumni of the Year, winner: Jane Hearst (presented by Hiu Man Chan)
Entrepreneurial Graduate of the Year, winner: Harry Wragg (presented by Danielle Wright)
Entrepreneurial Student of the Year, winner: Carolina Diel (presented by Richard Bowden)
Pitch2Win Panel winner: Sarah Jones (presented by Parmdeep Vadesha)
Pitch2Win audience winner: Sarah Jones (presented by Calum Leslie)
About The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity
The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity provides loans to new and existing business owners and postgraduate students across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
- Personal loans for business start-ups, development and postgraduate education
- Generous nine-year loan term
- Repayable by equal instalments after 3 years
- Support on hand from start to finish
Posted on Monday 16 March 2026