Birmingham students given opportunity to develop food bank app in tech design challenge

Students, from three local colleges rose to a challenge, set by local technology companies and local community interest company, to come up with an innovative tech-based solution to tackle the cost of living crisis. The winners have been given an opportunity to grow a business idea. 

As part of Birmingham Tech Week, students from BMet College, Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College and Niyo Bootcamps worked together to create a digital solution to help families struggling with the cost of living. The day was organised by local community interest company (CIC) The Brum Muse. The most viable idea was picked up by Birmingham based B13 Technologies and was awarded a venture planning session to drive the idea forward.  Tom Haworth B13 Technologies commentd:  “I was very surprised at the standard of outcomes from the day. They won their prizes on the day but we really thought the idea had legs and a real commercial idea to come out of this. We decided, as a business, to help them create an investment ready pack.”

The winning team, Taberu, designed an app that turns food banks digital and allows families to access free groceries through an app. They plan to partner with large stores to enable surplus goods to be given to those who need it the most. Moseley based B13 Technologies were part of the judging panel and offered an additional reward to the team, £1800 worth of services, aiding the team to reach pre-start up phase and prepare for pitching to investors.  Fatima Mohammed Student at Bmet College and a team member said: “I didn’t realise what my skills and strengths were, and that they didn’t need to lie behind a computer and there is a lot more career options in technology than I originally thought.”  

Team Taberu met with the B13 Team at a central Birmingham location to undergo the venture planning session. The 2 hour session allowed them to explore ideas, narrow down their target market further and roadmap their idea into an investment ready business idea. The team, all from diverse and under-represented backgrounds in Birmingham, arrived with an idea they had created in six hours as part of Digital Skills Day (Birmingham Tech Week 2022) and left with an innovation that is a viable business option. Supported by The Brum Muse, they will now be given the opportunity to pitch the idea to investors and create an app that will change the lives of families during the cost of living crisis. 

Digital Skills Day runs yearly as part of Birmingham Tech Week and is designed to give young people and students from underrepresented and diverse backgrounds an opportunity to experience and explore tech-based business ideas in a supported environment. The intended outcomes from The Brum Muse are to give real life opportunities to students who otherwise would not be able to gain access. 2022 has proven that with action and follow up, students in Birmingham are making an impact for themselves and wider society. 

“The Brum Muse is all about impact and action led events. It is so important we work with young people early on in their careers, and give them a level playing field to gain confidence and experiences that will connect them with the commercial world, so they are being pro-active, working on entrepreneurial projects and getting them thinking like company owners,” explained Dan Hoff – Rodrigues, Founder The Brum Muse .

Dan Hoff – Rodrigues, founder of The Brum Muse CIC has a vision to level the playing field for young people and provide them with experiences and information to encourage and inspire them to get into the tech industry. He started the CIC with the mission to bring together young people from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds and give them real life opportunities. The Digital Skills Day Tech Collab 2022 has achieved this with further outcomes coming to these young people in the way of jobs with prospective employers in attendance and the winning group being offered the chance to take their 6 hour concept to be turned into a potential start up.

See video for more information here: https://vimeo.com/781481263