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Nov.17, 2014 | By Alec

With all the recent news surrounding Richard Brandson, you might almost forget that he is a business man and investor, rather than an aerospace engineer. As the boss of Virgin Group, a widely successful enterprise comprising more than 400 businesses, investing and innovating is what he does best.

A few years ago he created the Pitch to Rich Competition, an annual competitive platform for young entrepreneurs that can win financial backing from this business powerhouse. As Virgin wrote on their website, this whole competition is all about supporting the future of enterprising. 'If you're an entrepreneur, we'll give you everything you need to get your bright idea off the ground and then get it rocketing. And if you're looking to catch an employer's eye, we'll help you learn what it takes to impress. It's that legendary Virgin spirit of enterprise, right there at your fingertips.'

Out of the hundreds of applicants, six innovators were given the nerve-racking honor of presenting their plans to Brandson himself in his Oxfordshire, England home. These were divided over two categories – 'innovation' and 'start-up' – and competed for the main prizes.

Chris Thorpe, i can make

While each category was filled with intriguing and brilliant entries, we couldn't help but notice that 3D printing technologies featured in both categories. Chris Thorpe's interesting I Can Make venture featured in the 'start-up' category, which consists of offering educational models that can teach the young and old all about desktop 3D printing principles. They hope to be able to offer box sets of educational 3D printing materials and guides next year.

In the 'innovation' category, meanwhile, the much-anticipated and talked about Audiowings start-up could be found. This project has been working on 3D printed smart headphones for some time now, and are understandably seen as a potential game changer in the musical world. It's currently looking like these will be created by British design company Ignitec on a Stratasys Objet Pro 3D printer, which will doubtlessly provide a smooth and professional look.

Its founder, Carl Thomas, has characterized his headphones as a component of the revolutionizing way music is found, listened to, provided and shared. 'We are revolutionizing headphones, making them smart. We are developing a premium pair of smart headphones that wirelessly connect directly to platforms like Spotify via 3G. Just imagine, all your favourite music, anywhere you are, directly to your headphones.'

Carl Thomas, Audiowings

Watch Carl Thomas discuss his Audiowings concept here:

These promising 3D printing start-ups went head-to-head with four other equally potent start-ups at Brandson's mansion last May. Sadly, Chris Thorpe's presentation failed to wow the judges. While they were definitely intrigued by the concept of bringing 3D printing to a wider public of all ages, they reportedly shared their concerns about pricing and the product's potential to reach common households.

Carl Thomas of Audiowings did, however, rise to the occasion. He was the first to give his pitch and raised the bar for his competitors. Unlike Chris, he was able to wow the judges, who likely shared society's weariness for battling with their headphones and audio devices. Branson was also impressed by the engineering that went into their 3D printing prototype.

In the end, Audiowings tied for the first place of the People's Award, winning access to a mentoring program taught by the cream of Virgin's business minds. Equal praise was awarded to an entirely different Carl Thomas (what a coincidence!), who was pioneering miPic, an online platform for selling artistic photographs. First prize in the start-up category was awarded to BoxHug, a storage container concept.

While the two stars of the 3D printed enterprising world thus didn't claim the double gold, this year's Pitch for Rich competition is indicative for something of a trend in today's business world. Is 3D printing technology finally reaching that point where the Giants of Business cannot ignore it any longer?

As for Audiowings, winning this prize will surely boost their confidence and bolster their entrepreneur's spirit. They hope their revolutionary headphones can hit the shelves in the first half of 2015, something we're all looking forward to.

You can watch the entire Pitch-to-Rich competition here:

 

Posted in 3D Printing Events

 

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