51Âþ»­

The founder of an app nicknamed ‘TripAdvisor for the disabled’ has won a £25,000 support package from global banking giant Santander after winning a national pitching competition.

Simon Sansome founded as a space for people to leave reviews and rate restaurants, bars, venues and more on how accessible they are – and has grown it to become the largest app of its kind in the world.

51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) Journalism graduate Simon was chosen as the winner from six finalists and more than 1,500 applicants to win this year’s– and will go on to represent the UK at the global finals in Barcelona next year. Judges included musician Tinie Tempah, Dragon's Den star Sam Jones, Olympic gold medallist Jess Ennis-Hill and the bank's CEO Mike Regnier and chairman, William Vereker.

Simon, who is part of 51Âþ»­’s Crucible start-up programme to support graduates and alumni to develop their businesses, was awarded first place in the Start-up category, winning him a package of £25,000 funding and business support.

Simon said: “The Santander X Awards have been a really tough competition. It’s been months of work and the businesses we were up against were incredible. I’m so grateful that the judges saw what Snowball is and what it can become in the future. With the prize money we can now pay to take on staff in the new year and get them trained up to do Snowball Assessments across the UK.”

“Snowball is now officially a multi award winning app after we won the Digital and Tech award at the Disability Power 100 list last month. We are so grateful for the support from Crucible at 51Âþ»­ and our growing community."

The Snowball app has been supported by Google and has brought in thousands of reviews from all over the world.

Santander X is a competition for students and start-ups, attracting thousands of entries every year. It is one of the Uk’s largest student and graduate pitching competitions which has to date supported hundreds of early-stage entrepreneurs and provided more than £900,000 in equity-free funding.

Tinie Tempah, musician, presenter and investor, said: “I’ve been investing in exciting new companies, including Sam Jones’ Gener8, for years now and there’s nothing like the thrill of discovering the next big idea and helping to give it the boost it needs. Judging the Santander X Awards was a great experience – the entrepreneurs delivered inspiring pitches and I know they’re all going to make an impact. The winners are some truly amazing businesses that have a chance to make a real difference in the world. I’ve learnt the founder and team are probably the most important factor in making a business investable, and these entrepreneurs really have what it takes to wow investors and get some proper momentum behind their ideas.”  

Mike Regnier, Santander UK CEO, said: “It has been an honour to judge this year’s Santander X Awards alongside an impressive panel of fellow judges with real expertise in entrepreneurship, and to hear from so many exciting entrepreneurs from a variety of backgrounds and with a truly inspiring range of businesses. All the finalists performed expertly, but the six winners delivered outstanding pitches and I look forward to watching their businesses go from strength to strength.”

There are two categories – universities for new businesses looking to launch and startup for growing businesses looking to scale. Of the thousands of entries received, judges whittle them down to 12 finalists, who are invited to pitch their businesses to a panel of celebrity judges and business owners. Six winners – three from each category – win funding and get an automatic place in the Santander X Global Awards in February 2024.