Applied Entrepreneurship Fund - Grant Winner
The Applied Entrepreneurship Fund supports students who are undertaking the Applied Entrepreneurship module, and who apply for funding. Students can apply to join the Applied Entrepreneurship module at Henley Business School that allows them to run their own business as part of their final year. Over the year students set up real limited companies, build their own products and services, participate in public pitching events, apply grants, make sales and market their businesses. When they graduate they will not only leave with a degree from Henley, but also with a fledgling business where they are their own boss.
Recently Paul Freeman, Post Game was announced as a grant winner. Read on to find out more about his entreprenuerial project and how this has impacted him.
Post Game is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) supplement brand addressing the "9 AM Struggle" - the loss of academic productivity due to hangover symptoms. Unlike standard hydration sachets, Post Game is a recovery complex formulated with Magnesium Bisglycinate and N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) to support sleep and liver function. Our mission is to provide university students with a science-backed "Cheat Code" that helps them balance a vibrant social life with academic success.
Receiving this funding was the turning point that transformed 'Post Game' from a theoretical concept into a data-backed business.
As a student entrepreneur, the biggest barrier to entry is risk. I was facing a critical decision: commit £3,250 of personal savings to a Minimum Order Quantity of inventory, or pause. This grant provided a third option. It allowed me to execute a 'Smoke Test' - running live advertising campaigns to validate market demand before investing in any physical stock
The impact was immediate. With this funding, I was able to test different creative strategies, pivoting from 'corporate' ads to 'native' content, which reduced my acquisition costs by over 40%. Crucially, the data proved that while the demand exists, my marketing funnel needs optimisation before I invest in stock.
Without this grant, I would have either taken a blind financial gamble or abandoned the idea entirely. Instead, this funding bought me the most valuable asset in a startup: data. It allowed me to de-risk a significant capital investment and taught me the discipline of 'Lean Startup' methodology - proving that entrepreneurship is about smart resource allocation, not just spending money.
If you want to learn more about funds we support, or wish to get involved please read the latest Annual Review or contact [email protected].
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