For the first time the HBS Alumni club of London ran a competition in London to award a prize of £1000 to the best new venture from alumni throughout Europe and to decide who would represent the London Alumni Club at the final of the global contest on the HBS campus in Cambridge at the end of April.

The final was held at the NESTA Headquarters in central London on Thursday 25th March and the short-listed contestants presented their projects to the audience – which participate in the selection of the London winner - and a panel of judges of HBS Alumni – comprised of Sherry Coutu, Toby Coppel, Lea Bajc, Chad Raube, Alex Hoye & Chris Bates  The final teams were :

• Mr. Stephen R. Berry   MBA 1979 E presenting QBP: Qtara technologies which addresses the enterprise customer service, healthcare and ‘intelligent home’ markets.
• Mr. Alidad Moghaddam   MBA 2008 F / Mr. Pietro Peligra Section D 2008 presenting Distinta: - a new venture focused on bringing a unique customer experience and new business model to the men’s luxury apparel industry.
• Ms. Karen G. Freyer   MBA 2005 E presented New Deal of the Mind which addresses the creative industry jobs market.

It was a very lively and enjoyable evening at which, in an unexpected turn of events, the team presenting Distinta won the prize of £1000 and the project of Qtara was selected to represent the HBS London Alumni Club in the final on the US campus at the end of April, for which there is a first prize of $25,000. Do look at the photos of the evening Click here