Northumbria student pitches to Dragons’ Den star in national entrepreneurship final

Northumbria University student, Daniel Indi Te has secured a place in the final of the National Entrepreneur of the Year awards after winning the North East regional competition with his concept for an innovative healthcare platform.

Daniel is a final-year Sport and Exercise Science student at Northumbria. Alongside his studies, he has been developing a digital health platform called Temedix Health, which aims to help people find appropriate musculoskeletal care from trusted physiotherapy clinics.

The idea was born out of the desire to address a critical gap in healthcare accessibility by helping smaller clinics cost-effectively reach more patients. Daniel's research revealed that smaller clinics often struggle to compete with larger providers on search platforms like Google, leaving patients unable to find the best available treatment options.

"My father lost his job after a series of failed treatments for a skin condition,” Daniel explained. “This is what prompted me to look into private clinics and I realised how difficult it is for patients to find suitable healthcare outside of the NHS. Temedix Health will help patients find trusted musculoskeletal (MSK) treatment, based on availability, funding options, and insurance acceptance.”

Alongside the other regional finalists, on Thursday, 16 October Daniel will pitch his business idea to an elite judging panel, including star of Dragons’ Den, Peter Jones CBE, for the chance to secure a £10,000 grant and a year of tailored mentorship.

The National Entrepreneur of the Year awards are delivered by the Peter Jones Foundation – a charity which provides young people and disadvantaged groups with the enterprise skills and experiences needed to better prepare them for successful employment or self-employment.

Daniel's entrepreneurial journey has been significantly supported by Northumbria University’s Student and Graduate Enterprise team and Incubator Hub, which provides high-quality business support for start-ups.

Daniel said: "Northumbria’s Incubator Hub is the base for Temedix. Being part of a community of early, as well as established, entrepreneurs is invaluable - not to mention the opportunities to attend organised networking events, and the support available for grant applications and business scaling.

"I’m excited to pitch Dragons’ Den-style, but it still doesn’t feel real. As someone who is new to the world of business, it’s empowering to see this level of interest so early on. I always believed in my concept, but I have so much more confidence in myself and the business now, regardless of the competition outcome."

With a prototype for the app in development, Daniel continues to demonstrate how Northumbria University's enterprise support can transform student ideas into nationally recognised businesses.

Graham Baty, Head of Enterprise Development at Northumbria, said: “Progressing to the national final represents not just a personal achievement for Daniel, but also recognition of Northumbria University's commitment to fostering entrepreneurial talent and supporting students in creating solutions to real-world problems. Daniel is on a great path to success, and we’re excited to support him on that journey.”

Northumbria University is dedicated to supporting current student and graduate start-ups. It has been ranked in the top 10 in the UK for the last 16 years for graduate start-ups based on aggregate turnover, according to the Higher Education Business Community Interaction Survey (2023/24), and has been placed in the top five for 13 of those years.