Igniting ideas: how Dundee's Centre for Entrepreneurship is shaping the future

Turning an idea into impact

When Sayed Murad searched for the "friendliest UK universities" in 2022, he had no idea it would lead him to the University of Dundee – and to the start of his entrepreneurial journey.

Sayed arrived with a powerful idea shaped by years of humanitarian work. As a former UN interpreter and founder of an NGO supporting refugees in India, he wanted to create an AI-driven language learning platform. What he found at Dundee was the support and direction to turn that vision into a reality.

"One of the biggest challenges is staying motivated and never losing sight of your mission. For every competition victory, there were countless rejections and setbacks nobody sees. You have to believe in your idea even when others don't,” said Sayed.

Leximos

His venture, Leximos, was initially designed for refugees in India. But after taking part in the Centre’s programmes, Sayed saw the importance of market research. 

“If I could do it again, I’d speak to UK users before building anything. That would have saved half our early issues.”

Sayed’s Dundee journey took off when he received an email about the Enterprise Challenge. What started as a simple pitch became an intensive learning experience, supported by the Centre’s director, Brian McNicoll.

Sayed and his team joined workshops on financial modelling, market research, and funding. Industry mentors and investor networks added real-world insight. Winning the £1,000 top prize in the Enterprise Challenge helped fund Leximos’ prototype and marked the first step in a wider journey.

With the Centre’s backing, Leximos gained momentum. In 2024, it won the Engineering Award at the Venture Capital Challenge, followed by selection as Dundee’s representative at the Royal Academy of Engineering’s "Champion of Champions" finals in 2025. Today, while competing in Converge’s 2025 cohort, Leximos is making a real-world impact through pilot programmes supporting Ukrainian refugee communities. 

Now leading a team of five, Sayed remains deeply connected to the Centre. He serves as a mentor in the AccelerateHER program for female founders, lectures on AI implementation, and judges student pitch competitions. 

As the Centre continues to expand its mission – recently adding specialized support for research commercialisation and forging new corporate innovation partnerships – Sayed's story stands as powerful testament to what becomes possible when academic potential meets world-class entrepreneurial support. 

About the Centre for Entrepreneurship

At the University of Dundee, innovation isn’t a buzzword - it’s a culture that pulses through lecture halls, studios, and labs, and continues far beyond graduation. 

At the heart of this culture is the Centre for Entrepreneurship. It is a vibrant hub where ideas grow, challenges are embraced, and future leaders gain the skills to make meaningful change. The Centre supports students, staff, and alumni (up to five years after graduation), creating a collaborative community where ideas thrive.

The Centre’s impact is recognised across the UK and beyond. It helped Dundee earn major titles including:

What unites all these efforts is the belief that entrepreneurial skills are life skills - useful not just in starting companies but in building fulfilling, impactful careers. Participants develop self-reliance, creative thinking, and resilience - traits that increasingly define leadership in the modern world. And at Dundee, these lessons are taught not through textbooks, but through real experiences: pitching ideas, receiving feedback, building networks, and seeing firsthand what it takes to bring something to life.