Pictured above: (l-r) Peter Banks, Natalie Walter and Tom Dodds from Exposure Live

Some of Leicestershire's most innovative students and graduates have been honoured at De Montfort University's (DMU) annual Business Venture Competition.

A record 125 business ideas were submitted for this year's Business Venture Competition (BVC), run by Campus Enterprise Opportunities at DMU in Leicester. The competition is open to students, staff and graduates of the university to assist the development of new business ventures by providing access to mentoring and support. 

Exposure Live - a local online music collection of live studio sessions - won the two top awards of the evening - the first prize of £1,500 and three months free incubation space at DMU's Innovation Centre, sponsored by law firm Harvey Ingram, and a £1,000 bursary and business support from Creative Leicestershire.  

Exposure Live is run in Leicester by Natalie Walter, Tom Dodds and Peter Banks, who graduated from DMU in 2009 with top degrees in media production, audio and recording technology and multimedia production. Run as a not-for-profit project to help support local musicians, festivals and live performers in Leicester, Exposure Live is also open to poets, comedians and dramatists. The company provides an online platform for artists allowing people to listen to professionally recorded and mixed live sessions, submit demos and poetry. The team also work for local events and festivals and train the community in studio engineering, mixing and recording and outside broadcasting.

Natalie Walter (23) said: "We're delighted to win the awards at this year's Business Venture Competition. We have a great team that has worked really hard to support Leicester's music scene during the last year and get Exposure Live to where it is today. The business support prizes will help us to launch our website and continue to promote the city's vibrant arts as Leicester's live performance platform."

goBiG adventures won the second prize - £500 sponsored by Lloyds TSB.  Final year students Gareth Leah (23) from Chester and Tom Ireson (27) from Windsor set up the outdoor adventure holiday company this year. They also have secured a place on Enterprise Inc worth more than £5,000 in business support.

Enterprise Inc is a £3 million initiative run in partnership with the region's universities to improve the enterprise skills and entrepreneurship capability of 500 students and graduates across the East Midlands.

Final year students Tom O'Callaghan (21) and Chris Seed (22) of 19grams, a graphic design company, also won a £1,000 Creative Leicestershire bursary for their business idea. They are also new participants on DMU's Enterprise Inc.

The third prize at the Business Venture Competition was awarded to Sarah Took (22), a final year BA Design Management and Innovation student, for her company, Fillanew - a refillable bottle service. Sarah was awarded the EMIN award for enterprise potential, winning direct EMIN business support - expert advice vouchers and business intelligence.

Ceramicist Jenny Creasey, an Artist in Residence at De Montfort University and participant on Enterprise Inc. 2009-2010 won the 2010 Enterprise Inc Award for Business Development as voted for by business advisers to the scheme. Jenny graduated from DMU in July 2009 with a degree in Design Crafts. Her company has gone from strength to strength since she started it in 2009 having exhibited her porcelain work at several large exhibitions.

Men's tailoring company Head and Griffiths, run by Owain Griffiths and Dominic Shaw won this year's Enterprise Inc Company of the Year Award, voted for by all of the Enterprise Inc participants. They won £250 of start-up capital.

DMU Industrial Design graduate Nick Rowan won the ProspectIP Innovation Award for his postural support chair for disabled children. He was awarded £500 and intellectual property support from ProspectIP.

Stuart Hartley, Business Incubation and Enterprise Manager at DMU, said: "This year's Business Venture Competition has been phenomenal. It wouldn't have been possible without the involvement of local businesses that have provided our budding entrepreneurs with the guidance, inspiration and the confidence they needed during the last year. The BVC awards provide us with the opportunity to congratulate our entrepreneurs and also recognise the crucial part their mentors play in their success. We congratulate all the winners - they are a true testament of the exceptional entrepreneurial talent at DMU."

The Business Venture Competition was sponsored by Harvey Ingram, Creative Leicestershire, Lloyds TSB, ProspectIP and East Midlands Incubation Network (EMIN).

Enterprise Inc is managed by the East Midlands Incubation Network (EMIN), and funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and East Midlands Development Agency (emda).