Latest news from Loughborough University

14 Aug 2015

Loughborough Design graduate appears in UK top 100 entrepreneurs list

A Loughborough University graduate has appeared in the UK’s top 100 entrepreneurs list, amongst the likes of Richard Branson and Lord Sugar.

Loughborough Design graduate Laurence Kemball-Cook, who is the founder of innovative company Pavegen, came 84th in the list.

Laurence first had the idea for Pavegen, which generates electricity from footfall, back in 2009 whilst he was studying Industrial Design at Loughborough University.

Since its creation, the company has excelled and a recent crowdfunding venture has seen the company raise £1.92m and receive backing from more than 1,500 online investors.

Pavegen debuted its project earlier this year in the heart of the Canary Wharf district where commuters and members of the public saw how a 10 tile installation powered two streetlights.

The new funding will bring Pavegen a step closer towards commercialisation of the technology, enabling mass production and reducing the cost of the tiles to equate to standard flooring.

As well as Laurence’s success and the financial success of the company, Pavegen has announced that ex-Apple executive Jeff Martin will join its advisory board.

Jeff will be involved in building out the technology, ensuring Pavegen is one of the core components within smart cities of the future and other digital infrastructure. He will also be working alongside in Pavegen in future key markets, including the Middle East and across the USA.

Notes for editors

Article reference number: August News

Loughborough 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 has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was named University of the Year in the What Uni Student Choice Awards 2015. Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. It was 2nd in the 2015 THE Student Experience Survey and was named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

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