An ingredient checking app, designed to help people with food restrictions, has been named winner of a business pitching competition run in Aberdeen by a serviced office company.
Barry Leaper, founder of LiberEat, has been rewarded with six months of free office space in Orega’s city centre Silver Fin Building.
The #StartMeUp Pitch contest, launched in September, asked local businesses to submit short pitches online, with five finalists making it through to a Dragon’s Den-style final last month.
Mr Leaper, who grew up in the north-east and graduated from Aberdeen University with a degree in finance, developed the idea for LiberEat having spent most of his career in private equity and investment banking.
He was inspired by the challenges faced by his fiancée and close family and friends who have to avoid certain ingredients because of intolerances and medical conditions.
The app makes it easier for people with food restrictions to eat out at restaurants, cook at home and shop at the supermarket, whether they have food allergies, are vegan or vegetarian or need to avoid certain foods for religious reasons.
Other finalists who pitched to a panel comprising Yekemi Otaru of YO! Marketing, Carolyn Maniukiewicz of Ideas in Partnership and Orega’s managing director, Zach Douglas Worthy, were The Gin Room Scotland, Almascore, The Property Angel and Maisie-Jane.com.
Mr Douglas Worthy said: “I thought the StartMeUp Pitch competition was great. There were some very strong business ideas coming from the Aberdeen finalists.
“The future is bright for these entrepreneurs, and we look forward to watching them grow with Orega.We chose LiberEat as the winner as Barry had done significant amounts of research into his business.
“He had secured highly credible third-party contributors and we could see the scalability potential, both nationally and internationally.”
Mr Leaper said: “It was really great to win the competition, especially against a very strong group of entrepreneurs. Orega Aberdeen will be a great place to take LiberEat to the next level. It was a great experience, and we have learnt a lot about our business in the process.”