Latest news from º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ

21 Mar 2014

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ graduate company named People’s Choice Winner at the IBM SmartCamp Finals

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ graduate company Shopa has won the Global IBM SmartCamp People’s Choice Award.

Shopa – founded in 2012 by Peter Janes (BSc Sport and Exercise Science, 2002) – is an online rewards network that provides members with cash rewards whenever they buy and share from over 150 million products.

Its members can discover popular products and earn cash when they buy or share them with friends, highlighting a step change in word-of-mouth marketing on digital platforms by offering higher cash rewards for members with large followings.

Shopa is Janes’ second successful start-up. With fellow º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ graduates Paul Stewart and Charlie Cooper, he built and sold The Post Network, a content distribution platform.

After winning both the judges and the People’s Choice Awards at the IBM SmartCamp UK finals and then the European finals in October 2013, Shopa was one of just seven finalists (from 7,000 initial companies) at the Global Start-up finals in California.

Peter said: “Winning the awards is great recognition for all the hard work the team have put in over the last year. Everyone is very excited about the future.”

Notes for editors

Article reference number: PR 14/57

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It was awarded the coveted Sunday Times University of the Year title in 2008-09 and has been named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and has been voted England's Best Student Experience for six years running in the Times Higher Education league. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ in London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.

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