When Liz Ashall-Payne started聽health and fitness聽app review site ORCHA for the first year she felt like her idea wasn鈥檛 of value.
A little over two years later and she has gone on to be crowned winner of 老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 鈥楳eet the game-changing pioneers of tech鈥櫬爀vent on Tuesday, which was sponsored by Havas PR.
Ashall-Payne pitched her business along 15 other 鈥榯ech 1st鈥� first-to-market businesses in front of a 60-strong audience.
There was also a judging panel made up of Anastasia Kenyon of Lifestyler, financial services expert Damian McGann, Jonathan Welsh of Havas PR and Sarah Novotny of 老九品茶 Growth Hub.
鈥淭hank you very much 鈥� I wasn鈥檛 expecting that,鈥� said Ashall-Payne who will receive 拢1,000 from Havas, following her win.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a journey. For the first 12 months I didn鈥檛 feel what I was doing was of value and when I went to sales pitches I would feel a bit embarrassed about asking for money for something that had come out of my head.
鈥淭hat has changed obviously as the business has grown but that confidence does have highs and lows.
鈥淚 question everything I do and every decision I make so I鈥檓 genuinely touched.
鈥淚t will give me energy and the drive to take it on and hopefully achieve a social benefit as well as a wealth benefit.鈥�
Ashall-Payne said she wasn鈥檛 expecting to win when she walked into the room, especially seeing the quality of other businesses also hoping to take home the top spot.
Food smart-packaging solution Mimica was named runner-up of the day following the vote.
Other companies shared their first-to-market tech products and businesses onstage, ranging from a company that makes holograms to a telematics company.
鈥淚 told the team what I was going to be doing this afternoon and I said I don鈥檛 think we鈥檒l win because I know we鈥檙e up against some amazing companies,鈥� said Ashall-Payne.
鈥淲hen I saw I was last to pitch my heart sank because I knew everyone was going to be amazing.
鈥淚 was quite nervous and I鈥檓 not someone who normally gets nervous but I knew watching other people who were amazing would make me nervous.
鈥淚 just can鈥檛 believe it actually. I鈥檓 genuinely massively surprised and it means a lot.
鈥淲e鈥檝e worked really hard over the last two years and it feels like we鈥檙e on a bit of a wave at the moment.
鈥淭omorrow is our board meeting so I can walk in to see our shareholders with this amazing news.鈥�