Young start-ups ready to ride out recession

Jun 2 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

Luke Jefferson, who co-founded Scratchface – a new company that has created the Huetility device to help decode colours for colour-blind people – recently won the £1,000. He is using the money to develop a new application of the technology for the iPhone.

He said: “In a climate like this, it’s more important than ever to be really canny about your target market. As a young entrepreneur, the key thing is to have belief in your business idea, remain confident and press on.

“We’re targeting out Huetility product at the hugely popular iPhone applications market and at buyers who we believe will be relatively unaffected by the recession.

“As a start-up we’ve become used to living modestly and surviving on a low wage, so there’s a sense in which we could be taking this step in any economic environment. We’ll keep going with this, no matter what our, or the country’s, economic circumstances are like. We’re determined to make a success of our business.”

Shell UK chairman James Smith said: “Given the current economic climate, it is more important than ever that we are a source of help to unearth and support the young entrepreneurs of today. They will be the creators of jobs, prosperity and the innovations of tomorrow.”