How to get your FREE tickets for TEDx and Freelancing & Entrepreneurship Awards…
The countdown is on to two of the biggest events in the DMU calendar; The Freelancing & Entrepreneurship Awards and TEDxDemontfortU, and here’s how you could be at both.
Freelancing & Entrepreneurship Awards
On Tuesday 10 February, 5 – 8pm (approx.), students, graduates, staff and the local business community will come together to celebrate the wealth of freelancing and entrepreneurial talents surrounding us.
The DMU Freelancing and Entrepreneurship Awards 2025/26, supported by the Sir Thomas White Loan Charity, will recognise DMU brilliance with a high-profile, star-studded awards ceremony right here on DMU Campus. We would love you to join us for this unforgettable evening, on Tuesday 10 February, by booking your FREE ticket today. Spaces are strictly limited and this event is expect to book up very quickly.
Free 'community' tickets can be booked here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dmu-freelancing-and-entrepreneurship-awards-tickets-1905334790649
Special celebrity guests will provide entertainment and insight on the night, with outstanding students, graduates and staff being honoured in a range of award categories including:
- Creative Industries Award
- Health and Wellbeing Award
- Global Entrepreneurship Champion
- Sustainability Award
- Tech Award
- Fashion Award
Awards will also be given out to our Entrepreneurial Student, Graduate and Alumni of the year.
Among last year’s winners was Simon Samsome, creator of Snowball, a disability app helping users rate and review venues worldwide. After graduating, Simon went on to join Crucible, a graduate incubator ran by the University’s commercial team, and he has since filmed an episode of the BBC’s Dragon’s Den.
Other winners in 2024 include Joe Shade, developer of an innovative beehive that monitors and provides research data on bees and Sam Thacker, a rising freelancer contributing significantly to Leicester’s creative culture and featured in the Graduate Fashion Foundation’s Talent of Tomorrow campaign.
Simon Baines, Enterprise Project Manager said: "Our Awards event has become an annual highlight amidst our many projects, events and competitions. “We are so excited to celebrate not only a number of monumental milestones in our work, but of course also our incredible community of students and recent graduates who among them, never cease to amaze us with their brilliant side-hustles, freelancing projects and portfolios. It doesn’t matter how big or small somebody’s venture is, how much money it makes or what kind of project it is, we encourage nominations from everybody.
“There are many exceptional graduates we have worked with out there like Jane Hearst, Tarnjeet Kaur, and Melvin Riley who are outstanding exemplars for this. Our mission is to create graduates with entrepreneurial skills, not graduates who are entrepreneurs".
A chance to win big money
The Awards will feature the final of this year's Pitch2Win competition. Four finalists will pitch their ideas to the audience for the chance to win £1,000 determined by an expert panel and a separate £1,000 prize voted for by the audience on the night.
Previous Pitch2Win participants have included successful graduate startups Leicester Gazette, Hands In and Lead Balloon Studios.
TEDxDemontfortU
DMU Made are bringing TEDxDemontfortU back to campus. It will take place on the evening of 10 March, 2026 in The Venue. The theme is Beyond the 9 to 5. Reimagining How We Work, Create, and Live.
Speakers announced so far include academics Mary O’Neill, Chris Wright, Brett Koenig, Adele Tilley-Jones and Mark Prescod. The first student/graduate speaker to be confirmed is Tom Lamb, founder of niteguide.
Tickets
Tickets are free and strictly limited to 100.
The first wave of tickets for the event will be released during the DMU Freelancing & Entrepreneurship Awards event, taking place on 10 February. To be there, register via https://www.dmumade.com/take-part
DMU Made
DMU Made is the part of Careers Team that enables students and graduates to develop freelancing and entrepreneurial skills through free competitions, programmes, events and support.
Looking for a Makers Space to work on your creative projects? Come to the DMU Made Studio – Kimberlin Library 1.06 (open early and late – in line with library hours).
To ensure you don’t miss out on ANY of our opportunities, please sign up for the DMU Made Club mailing list here: https://my-gateway.dmu.ac.uk/leap/pathways/preview-pathway.html?pathway=58 and visit https://www.dmumade.com/take-part
Any student or graduate who has formally registered their own business or as self-employed since July 2024 can get additional support by completing the form at https://www.dmumade.com/survey
