QMYOU Alumni Magazine Issue 86 | Page 20

£45k fellowship helps business graduate develop convenience meals for IBS sufferers A young entrepreneur who is creating food solutions for people suffering from IBS has gained an incredible £45,000 cash injection for her business thanks to a prestigious Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship. Lauren Leisk, a young business graduate from QMU, is one of only 20 entrepreneurs selected as an RSE Unlocking Ambition Enterprise Fellow. The initiative supports high potential entrepreneurs to start up their businesses in Scotland, and will assist Lauren with bespoke advice, grant funding and business development support to take her specialist food company, Fodilicious, to the next level. Having discovered a gap in the market for fresh, healthy convenience foods suitable for people coping with various digestive disorders, 24-year-old Lauren has been sweeping the boards in several national entrepreneurial competitions over the summer. However, the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Unlocking Ambition initiative, backed by Scotland’s First Minister, is perhaps one of the most significant awards for the young entrepreneur. Although Lauren had experienced some IBS issues in her teens, by the age of 20 she could no longer ignore them. As a business student at QMU, juggling study and work, she had an increasingly busy lifestyle. Often eating on the go, her symptoms of discomfort, pain and bloating intensified and despite her best efforts, she struggled to find readily available food products suitable for her condition, as most were full of additives and preservatives. However, Lauren decided to turn a negative into a positive. She used her personal experience and her business skills to set up Fodilicious - plugging the gap for tasty, nutritional foods and freshly prepared meals for people with IBS. Lauren explained: “After years of struggling with IBS, I discovered the low FODMAP diet which eliminates all trigger foods that can set off IBS symptoms. Despite the word ‘diet’, a low FODMAP approach is not focused on weight loss – instead it limits foods high in a group of sugars called FODMAPs that have been shown to aggravate the gut, and therefore eases symptoms associated with IBS such as bloating, pain and gas.” She continued: “I decided to prepare recipes substituting normal ingredients for low FODMAP alternatives, and the results were fantastic!” In September 2017, Lauren created Fodilicious, an innovative and UK exclusive food manufacturing business providing convenient, healthy meal options following the low FODMAP diet, (IBS-friendly). The Fodilicious products are also gluten-free and dairy-free, and cover a range of special dietary requirements, effectively positioning Fodilicious in the fast growing ‘free from’ food market. 20 QMYOU / Supporting Entrepreneurship Lauren, whose business is based in Livingston, said: “I’ve been working with experts at QMU on a new snack product, which will be launching soon, and I am a tenant of the University’s Business Innovation Zone (BIZ). The BIZ offers QMU graduate entrepreneurs access to free space and business support via Business Gateway, as well as networking and funding opportunities. This is an important university service which provides useful facilities and guidance to new graduates during the early stages of their business development.” Miriam Smith, QMU’s Business Development Manager, said: “QMU has been delighted to see Lauren making such an impact in Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosytem and winning several thousand pounds to support her future business development. Her success with the RSE means that she will now benefit from a 12-month cutting-edge company start-up programme.” This is the first time that QMU has been awarded an enterprise fellowship which, in addition to supporting the graduate, provides financial assistance to the University to continue hosting Lauren within its Business Innovation Zone. However, this is not the only major competition in which Lauren has had success. Recently, she received a £10,000 award from Scottish Edge competition, which supports entrepreneurs and start-ups. She also held her own against some of the country’s most ambitious entrepreneurs from the UK’s top universities, taking the runner-up position in the finals of the highly prestigious Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards. In addition, Lauren was one of the first entrepreneurs to be supported through the Merchant Company of Edinburgh’s Enterprise Fund, with an award of £3,500. Miriam Smith concluded: “Lauren is an impressive young woman who has identified an important gap in the specialist food market for people with digestive disorders who want to eat well and maintain good health. We are so proud of what Lauren has achieved in such a short time since graduating. She is an excellent alumni ambassador for QMU. Her vision to service a growing market with a suitable diet for their health requirements fits well with QMU’s mission of developing graduates who have the skills and ability to improve the quality of people’s lives.” Lauren concluded: “2018 has been one of the most exciting and demanding years of my life. I am so grateful that QMU has supported me through these quite gruelling competitions. It has been good to share some of the journey and the successes. I have certainly felt that staff at QMU really care about me and are truly invested in helping their entrepreneurial graduates succeed. “I’m really passionate about Fodilicious and am delighted to have the investment from the competitions, and the business support from the RSE, Scottish Edge, Santander and QMU’s Business Development Manager, to assist me in taking Fodilicious to the next level.” ❒