A platform tackling loneliness by connecting the elderly with young people has won the IGNITE social enterprise pitching contest, seeing off stiff competition from five other finalists.
AIBŌ won the Ford Family Foundation’s flagship event, which was hosted at Barclays Innovation Hub powered by Eagle Labs in Shoreditch on Tuesday 21st October. A £50,000 prize pot was shared between the six finalists. Last year’s winners were awarded a further £280,000 after due diligence.
Kings College London student Solene Declas, who was awarded £20,000, founded AIBŌ to connect 18 – 30 year olds with elderly people through paid companionship. Tackling loneliness among pensioners and the financial pressures facing the younger generation, Solene’s ambition is to create a national network of young people delivering companionship as a service.
AIBŌ founder Solene Declas commented:
“I was blown away by the other finalists and am overwhelmed to have won! The funding will make a huge difference because although we have active pairings, we are still proving the concept and working out the mechanics. I’m excited to start working on the plan to launch the first MVP of the AIBŌ app, which we look forward to scaling out nationwide so that many more older and younger people can enjoy sharing their experiences with each other.”
Ford Family Foundation founder Tony Ford added:
“AIBŌ shows how technology can be applied responsibly to improve wellbeing and create genuine impact, and supporting social entrepreneurs like Solene is exactly why we started the Foundation. The calibre of founders we’ve seen through IGNITE this year has been truly outstanding. Their pitches were inspiring and they should all take immense pride in building something special. We are proud to support them all and we look forward to seeing them achieve great success in the years ahead.”
The other five IGNITE finalists, who share £30,000 were:
WeDonate – awarded £10,000
A platform designed to encourage blood donation through community rewards to help counter national shortages. University of Chichester student Stephen King created the tool so that hospitals gain a more reliable supply of blood, donors are recognised and rewarded for their contributions, and local businesses benefit from increased custom.
Reporti – awarded £7,500
A safeguarding app designed to keep people safe at crowded events, allowing users to quickly report incidents such as harassment, assault, or unsafe behaviour. Imperial College and Royal College of Art student Gracie Broom created the platform to ensure vulnerable groups have a clear, effective way to raise concerns.
Rephobia – awarded £6,000
Queen’s University Belfast student Liam Harte is using virtual reality to deliver accessible therapy for people living with phobias such as fear of flying, heights, or social situations. With potential applications in clinics, schools, and direct-to-consumer use, Rephobia aims to provide effective, affordable tools that help people build confidence and independence.
Harker – awarded £4,000
A CRM system designed to support homelessness charities with vital data insights. University of Liverpool student James Barber is on a mission to simplify how charities record and interpret information, enabling them to improve services, strengthen funding applications, and ultimately support more people out of homelessness.
Braille Forge – awarded £2,500
Affordable braille technology to improve access to STEM education for visually impaired students. Brunel University student Jonny Parker is striving to positively influence long-term employment prospects for visually impaired learners, who currently face prohibitively expensive costs that limit access to subjects where tactile learning materials are essential.
The six social venture finalists received pitching and bespoke accelerator support from IGNITE innovation partner Barclays Eagle Labs, as well as access to digital resources. The keynote speaker at Ignite 2025 was EqualReach founder Giselle Gonzales, whose business received significant funding from the Ford Family Foundation after pitching at the inaugural Ignite event at The Shard last year.
To find out more about the Ford Family Foundation, please see Ford Family Foundation. In the three years since inception, the Foundation has provided over £1,900,000 in funding across the charitable and social enterprise sectors.
