Duke of York crowns water-saving start-up as winner of Pitch@Palace 6.0

His Royal Highness the Duke of York has named North Yorkshire start-up Drenched as the winner of the Pitch@Palace 6.0 programme – which launched in July.

The company, which develops a water-saving ‘volumiser’ product, beat competition from 11 other start-ups in a final pitch event at St James’s Palace on Wednesday 2 November.

Claiming to save water, energy and money, Drenched’s technology transforms a flow of water into a “targeted molecular cone”, reducing the volume of water used by over 90%.

Internet-of-Things billboard OfferMoments took home the People’s Choice award, voted for by the public from the 42 finalists that took place in Pitch@Palace boot camp, with Mobile Power coming in second and Doodlemaths in third.

Since launching in 2013, Pitch@Palace has helped more than 205 businesses create 447 jobs.

The Duke of York commented: “The support, interest and activity of all those involved at Pitch@Palace 6.0 has made tonight a real success. I look forward to hearing more about not only the success of Drenched, overall winner tonight, but all those entrepreneurs that have taken part.”

Wesley Sugden-Brook, founder of Drenched, said: “As founders of Drenched, we are used to pitching our business – to investors, partners and potential customers but this was a big one for us. We are absolutely thrilled to have taken the top spot, especially considering the calibre of the competition.

“The Pitch@Palace process has been fantastic from start to finish. We have met some incredible mentors and made connections that are going to have a real impact on the growth of our business over the next few years.”