LiberEat celebrates #StartMeUp Pitch success

Founder of food allergy app wins Orega office space worth £10k

Serviced office provider Orega has announced that ingredient-checking app LiberEat is the winner of its Aberdeen #StartMeUp Pitch competition, receiving six months of free office space at the prestigious Silver Fin Building.

The #StartMeUp Pitch, which launched in September, asked local businesses to submit short business pitches online, with five finalists making it through to pitch on 7 November.

LiberEat’s founder, Barry Leaper, who made the case for his app-based business to #StartMeUp’s judging panel, grew up in North-east Scotland. He developed the idea for LiberEat having spent most of his career in private equity and investment banking, following graduating from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in Finance.

Barry has a fiancée and close family and friends who have to avoid certain ingredients because of intolerances and medical conditions, which inspired LiberEat. 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/vegetarian or need to avoid certain foods for religious reasons.

Worthy finalists The Gin Room Scotland, Almascore, The Property Angel and Maisie-Jane.com also pitched to the Dragon’s Den-style judging panel, which included local business leaders Yekemi Otaru of YO! Marketing and Carolyn Maniukiewicz of Ideas in Partnership, as well as Orega’s managing director, Zach Douglas.

Douglas 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.”

He explained: “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.”

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.

“For anyone looking to enter future #StartMeUp Pitches with Orega, just go for it! It was a really great experience, and we have learnt a lot about our business in the process.”

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