University of Bristol: First UK women’s urinal wins top prize in the University of Bristol’s New Enterprise Competition
PEEQUAL was founded by Anthropology with Innovation and Physics with Innovation students, Amber Probyn and Hazel McShane, who graduated in 2020.
The product is the UK’s first touch-free women’s urinal, which solves the problem of women’s toilet queues at outdoor events by being six times quicker to use than conventional portable lockable toilets.
It is made from 100% recyclable materials and comes as flat pack design, making it easier to transport and set up to different space-saving configurations. It also produces 98% less CO2 than portable toilets.
Amber Probyn, Co-founder at PEEQUAL, said: “We feel massively encouraged and honoured to receive the award for the New Enterprise Competition, it means we can get our PEEQUAL urinals out to events as soon as possible! Thank you, Basecamp, for becoming part of our extended team, your support has come at such a pivotal point!”
Hazel McShane, Co-founder at PEEQUAL, said: “Winning the New Enterprise Competition has given us the funding and recognition to follow our dream for pee-equality. We are now so excited to get our PEEQUAL urinals out there to free the pee.”
Peequal founders – article
The New Enterprise Competition is the University of Bristol’s flagship start-up competition, run by the Basecamp Enterprise team. Previous winners include Ultraleap, a world leading hand tracking and haptics technology company, and Kaedim, an AI company whose software creates 3D assets for games and films in seconds, and which this year has raised its first substantial pre-seed round.
Of the 21 businesses competing this year, two other student-led start-ups were awarded runners-up:
Bottle Farm won £5,000 for their kit that turns any plastic bottle into an indoor farm.
Senmag Robotics won a 12-month membership to tech incubator SETsquared Bristol and pro-bono legal support from sponsors VWV. Senmag Robotics combine ultra-precise motion tracking with high-fidelity 3D force feedback to allow a user to move around a virtual 3D environment and physically interact with objects within it.
Professor Phillip Taylor, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at the University of Bristol, said: “The New Enterprise Competition is not just a competition, it’s a support programme supported by mentors and partners such as SETsquared to provide tailored business advice.
“The competition continues to be a catalyst for innovations ranging from deep tech, healthcare, wellbeing, sustainability and creative arts. Thank you to our mentors, partners and sponsors and the Basecamp Enterprise team for supporting students and graduates on their journey to create value for themselves, the city and society.”
Monika Radclyffe, Centre Director at SETsquared Bristol, said: “The New Enterprise Competition is a great example of how innovation is spotted, celebrated and supported by the University of Bristol. SETsquared Bristol is proud to be involved with mentoring and judging this talent and welcoming Senmag Robotics to our incubation programme to support them on the next commercial stage of their entrepreneurial journey.”