A GROUP of students has secured a £30,000 investment in a Dragons’ Den-style event.

Like the popular BBC TV show, students pitched their start-up business ideas in hopes of getting a cash investment from a group of investors.

FuseMind, which is an academic search tool that helps students and researchers find the most relevant research papers quickly and easily, was offered a £30,000 investment as part of the third annual Southampton Dragons’ Den event recently hosted by the University of Southampton Students’ Union.

Computer science, geography and acoustic engineering students Maciej Szpakowski, Przemek Zientala and Mauro Cozzi Gasparotti delivered a confident sales pitch for their product.

The students were offered a £30,000 investment from Apple Europe director Chris Broad and confetti.co.uk co-founder Andrew Doe, who both attended the event.

The money, alongside other grants the students have applied for, will give them a strong platform to build and market the product for the next 12 months, before seeking a larger round of funding in order to scale the company up.

FuseMind was also one of the projects that received £500 from the Union’s Enterprise Fund last year.

The union’s vice-president for engagement, Dan Varley, said: “I am so chuffed at how well the FuseMind team is doing.

“We thought we saw something really special back in November when we gave the money from the Union Enterprise Fund, and it is clear to see they have put that money to good use.”

Find out more about FuseMind at fusemind.org.