Funding innovation projects
Amber Probyn (MA 2020) and Hazel McShane (MSci 2020) share their entrepreneurial journey.
Amber
PEEQUAL began as a research project in our final year of university. Hazel and I were both studying Innovation and were tasked with solving a real-world problem. We’d worked at festivals during the summer and had to choose between toilet breaks or getting food between bands because the toilet queues were so long. That’s when we came up with the idea of a women’s urinal.
Our first major milestone was taking PEEQUAL to Bristol Comedy Garden last summer. It was a big risk for us – we didn’t want to show anyone our scrappy, non-functional prototype – but we needed to know how a festival audience would respond to it. It paid off because that’s when we started to get media attention and customer enquiries from all over the world.
Studying Anthropology with Innovation allowed me to develop our business idea while exploring the theory behind women’s spaces. Women’s toilets are a space for people to feel safe and united. We learned from this research that PEEQUAL toilets must continue to provide that safe space and feel inclusive for everyone.
While I was a student I received a bursary which meant I didn’t have to get a part-time job while studying. The bursary made me want to work harder because it was such a tangible way of the University community saying ‘we support you’. We’ve also received funding for PEEQUAL through the Jim and Peggy Wilkinson Innovation Fund, which has been such a catalyst in turning our idea into a reality. We’re using that support to build something that will change the course of the future. We’re providing access to facilities for women, we’re tackling the taboo around female urination, and we’re promoting gender equality.
A big thank you to those who support students and innovation projects at Bristol.
As co-founders, Hazel and I have a very intense life together, but we’ve always got each other’s back and we’re always challenging each other to do better. We bring different things to PEEQUAL but we have such a united front on our mission and what we want to achieve. We have a very open and honest communication style and I really love how emotionally intelligent Hazel is. I’m so grateful to be doing this with her; I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.
Hazel
Studying Physics with Innovation fostered so much curiosity and confidence in me. Before the course, I’d never spoken publicly or felt that my ideas could lead to anything. The Innovation course is special because you can test your ideas in a supportive environment before going out into the real world, which is exactly what we did with PEEQUAL.
Taking PEEQUAL to Glastonbury this year was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Amber and I had taken prototypes to small festivals, but this was our first moment with an international audience at a globally renowned festival. Three weeks prior, our manufacturer told us there wasn’t enough time to produce the walls for the units, so we made them ourselves! We also learnt how to plumb them into the long drop system on-site.
Hearing stories from women using the urinals is a highlight for me. The problem isn’t always obvious to men, but a 30-minute toilet queue can mean missing your favourite band or losing your friends in the crowd. At Glastonbury I overheard a woman say she beat her male partner back from the toilet queue which made my day.
The hardest part of the journey is not being taken seriously as two young women developing a urinal. In the early stages of investment, we were laughed out of the room. However, Amber and I have been so well supported by the University – through the funding, networks, and the mentors we’ve met – that we’ve been able to realise our value and find the right investors.
My favourite thing about working with Amber is how our differences complement each other. We spend so much time together, more than I spend with anyone else, and we have learnt to communicate really well and respect each other’s boundaries. I love how relationship-based Amber is – she follows things all the way through and leaves no stone unturned.
PEEQUAL is now part-based at Runway, within the University’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CfIE). When you’re running a start-up, the best information you can find is from fellow founders. Through Runway we can continue having conversations with our peers and remain part of the CfIE community. Runway also gave us a grant which enabled us to fulfil our aim of producing the units using sustainable materials.
Our experience at Glastonbury has inspired us to keep going. The start-up journey can be turbulent but hearing the stories from women empowered us to keep striving for the best solution and adapt our design to be as accessible and inclusive as possible. Thank you to those who have supported our journey.
Supporting innovation
Alumni and friends have supported many incredible innovation initiatives at Bristol. The Jim and Peggy Wilkinson Innovation Fund is one such initiative which provides seed funding to early-career entrepreneurs to investigate the potential of their business idea and help them establish their enterprise. To nurture entrepreneurial talent, alumni and friends have also supported Runway, a start-up accelerator which provides working spaces, mentoring and financial support to Bristol students and recent graduates.
'We’re using your support to build something that will change the course of the future. We’re providing access to facilities for women, we’re tackling the taboo around female urination, and we’re promoting gender equality.'
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