UDS wins 2025 start-up contest
Pure Lube from the University for Development Studies (UDS) emerged winner of the 2025 Student Venture Support Programme (SVSP) and took home the GH¢50,000 top prize with an innovative, eco-friendly lubricant made from cashew nut shells.
The event, held in partnership with Imperial College, London, Impact Hub Accra and the University of Ghana (UG), marked the fourth cohort of the SVSP, a programme designed to support student entrepreneurs across universities in the country.
Competing universities
This year, UDS joined the network, bringing the total to four participating institutions, alongside UG, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
The 2025 edition attracted 236 applicants, with 42 teams shortlisted and 142 students taken through a rigorous 10-part masterclass series on innovation, intellectual property, business development, branding, team dynamics and investment readiness.
Since its inception, the SVSP has supported about 400 students and more than 85 ventures.
Pitches
During the final pitches (National Demo Day), 12 groups showcased their ventures to a panel of judges. UDS’s Pure Lube impressed with its renewable, high-performance grease derived from cashew nut shells liquid, aimed at replacing toxic, expensive petroleum-based lubricants in the country’s GH¢110 million lubricant market.
The startup has already recorded GH¢66,000 in early sales and projects, creating 400 jobs within its first two years.
The UG team, Fitroot Ghana, placed second and won GH¢30,000 for developing healthy snacks made from local superfoods, while the UCC’s Jespark Foods came third, with GH¢20,000 for its modern twist on the traditional kenkey smoothie.
KNUST’s Mushplus, which produces mushroom-fortified instant noodles and protein mixes for children, placed fourth, receiving GH¢5,000 as their prize.
Fostering innovation
The Director of UG’s Research and Innovation Directorate (RID), Professor David Dodoo-Arhin, said the initiative exemplified the institution’s commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship among students.
He described the SVSP as a transformative programme aligned with the university’s strategic plan of promoting student-centred learning, innovation, and entrepreneurial mindsets.
“By empowering all these students, with over 400 of them since its inception, this programme is helping to realise our vision of becoming a world-class research-intensive university that drives national development,” Prof. Dodoo-Arhin said.
He also praised the ingenuity and ambition of student-led ventures from UG, KNUST, UCC, and UDS.
The Pro-VC for RID, Prof. Felix Ankomah Asante, stated that the Demo Day celebrated courageous ideas and the relentless spirit of innovation among the country’s youth.
He added that the programme bridged academia and industry, and urged continued support for student ventures because the true win lay in jobs created and ecosystems transformed.
The Associate Director of Imperial Global, Clare Turner, lauded the programme as more than just masterclasses, saying that it unlocked potential by helping students turn ideas into real ventures that create jobs and solve problems.
She highlighted that Imperial also learnt from Ghanaian partners and used its Ghana hub to co-develop solutions to global challenges such as climate change and vaccines.
