STUDENT entrepreneurs at the Eastern Enterprise Hub in Ipswich came face to face with a den of real life “dragons” during an exercise to pitch their business ideas to a panel of funders and investors.

The pitching day was organised to give students following the Lloyds Banking Group Social Entrepreneurs Programme and young entrepreneurs from the Enterprise Academy an opportunity to present their business ideas and discuss possible investment.

The panel for the Dragons’ Den-style event included representatives from Foundation East, Charity Bank, UnLtd, Suffolk Foundation, Lloyds Banking Group and New Venture Partners.

Following their pitches, students were each given feedback on their business plans and their presentations.

Andrea Davies, chief executive at the Eastern Enterprise Hub, said: “This is fantastic real-life experience for our students who have received valuable feed back from not only potential funders but also a panel of highly experienced business people.

“Developing a credible business pitch that will inspire and enthuse potential partners, funders and customers is an invaluable business skill.

“We are really grateful to our highly experienced panel for giving up their time to support our early stage entrepreneurs. It is important for new entrepreneurs to have support in the early stages and that’s what the EE Hub provides.”