Thomas Valderrama co-founded Loma with Joseph Undaloc in his final year studying at King's. Loma is a search platform that makes the entire secondhand market easy to navigate and searchable in one click. The platform offers users an easy way to live more sustainably and lower their carbon footprint whilst also saving money.

In this episode, hear Thomas discuss:

💡 how Loma was born when Thomas and Joseph decided to compete in the Idea Factory competition

👋 how they validated their business idea by engaging in a dialogue with their target audience, taking an audience-centric approach

🌱 Loma's commitment to remaining authentic in all they do - from developing their product to pitching and even building their team

🔄 why failure is a part of the cycle for success

+ Loma: https://www.asklomafirst.com/

+ Loma on social media: @asklomafirst

+ Entrepreneurship Institute on Twitter: @innovatekings

+ Entrepreneurship Institute on Instagram: @kingsentrepreneurship

To hear more about disruption at King's and the London entrepreneurial ecosystem, sign up to the Entrepreneurship Institute's newsletter

✉️ https://kcl.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6d3cc44d5852f187f28de2d6a&id=4577dc181c

Find out more:

🚀 King's20 Accelerator

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/scale-your-venture/kings20-accelerator

💡The Idea Factory

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/develop-your-idea/idea-factory

🙋🏾‍♀️ Women Entrepreneurs Network

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/develop-your-idea/women-entrepreneurs-network

🌐 Our website

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship

Audio Transcript: https://kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/assets/podcast-transcripts/4.-thomas-podcast-transcript.pdf

Savs Tan is the Entrepreneurship Institute's Expert in Residence for Investment. Savs has been working in venture investment for the past 7 years, with a particular focus on early-stage start-ups. When not advising founders on the King's20 Accelerator, Savs works with Isomer Capital, investing in early-stage European venture capital funds.

In this episode, Savs discusses:

💰 investors are looking for and how to make investors work for you

💼 what it means to be 'investment ready'

👍 characteristics of a successful team dynamic

👨 the importance of building entrepreneurial skills and self-awareness

👏🏿 changes in venture capital investment for underrepresented founders

+ Entrepreneurship Institute on Twitter: @innovatekings

+ Entrepreneurship Institute on Instagram: @kingsentrepreneurship

+ Mom Test: http://momtestbook.com/

To hear more about disruption at King's and the London entrepreneurial ecosystem, sign up to the Entrepreneurship Institute's newsletter

✉️ https://kcl.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6d3cc44d5852f187f28de2d6a&id=4577dc181c

Find out more:

🚀 King's20 Accelerator

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/scale-your-venture/kings20-accelerator

💡The Idea Factory

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/develop-your-idea/idea-factory

🙋🏾‍♀️ Women Entrepreneurs Network

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/develop-your-idea/women-entrepreneurs-network

🌐 Our website

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship

Audio transcript: https://kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/assets/podcast-transcripts/3.-savs-podcast-transcript.pdf

Theo Ohene is an Expert in Residence at King's College London, as well as being the Founder of Skyamo, a growth marketing consultancy that helps start-ups and scale-ups understand how to grow through their marketing. Theo has led growth for venture-backed startups in San Francisco, Las Vegas and London.

In this episode, Theo discusses:

‎‍💻 how he identified and grew the hard skills needed to start his business

📝 the value of putting your audience at the heart of everything you do by carrying out market research and validating your ideas

💼 his journey into growing his own start-up and how he went on to help others grow

+ Skyamo: https://www.skyamo.com/

+ Theo on Twitter: @TheoOhene

+ Entrepreneurship Institute on Twitter: @innovatekings

+ Entrepreneurship Institute on Instagram: @kingsentrepreneurship

+ Mom Test: http://momtestbook.com/

To hear more about disruption at King's and the London entrepreneurial ecosystem, sign up to the Entrepreneurship Institute's newsletter

✉️ https://kcl.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6d3cc44d5852f187f28de2d6a&id=4577dc181c

Find out more:

🚀 King's20 Accelerator

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/scale-your-venture/kings20-accelerator

💡The Idea Factory

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/develop-your-idea/idea-factory

🙋🏾‍♀️ Women Entrepreneurs Network

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/develop-your-idea/women-entrepreneurs-network

🌐 Our website

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship

Audio transcript: https://kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/assets/podcast-transcripts/2.-theo-podcast-transcript.pdf

In the first episode of Disruptors, host Rachel Stockey chats to Josephine Philips.

Josephine graduated from King's with a degree in Physics and Philosophy. In her final year she had an idea for Sojo - think Deliveroo but for clothing alterations. Josephine took part in the Entrepreneurship Institute's Women Entrepreneurs Programme and continued to develop her idea for Sojo through the Idea Factory competition, which she won in 2020.

Having her idea validated inspired Josephine to make the business a reality, and she went on to be selected for the prestigious King's20 Accelerator programme with Sojo.

Listen as Josephine discusses:

+ her entrepreneurial journey - from selling clothes on Depop to creating a fashion tech start-up

+ how the Idea Factory competition helped her validate her idea

+ the challenges she's faced as a young black businesswoman and her aspirations for the future

+ the learning curve she's had ahead of launching

Instagram: Sojo_App

Website: http://sojoapp.co.uk/

Mom Test: http://momtestbook.com/

To hear more about disruption at King's and the London entrepreneurial ecosystem, sign up to the Entrepreneurship Institute's newsletter

✉️ https://kcl.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6d3cc44d5852f187f28de2d6a&id=4577dc181c

Find out more:

🚀 King's20 Accelerator

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/scale-your-venture/kings20-accelerator

💡The Idea Factory

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/develop-your-idea/idea-factory

🙋🏾‍♀️ Women Entrepreneurs Network

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/develop-your-idea/women-entrepreneurs-network

🌐 Our website

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship

Audio transcript: https://kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/assets/podcast-transcripts/1.-josephine-podcast-transcript.pdf