KEVRI proves that knowledge exchange is key to innovation
As the winners of THE’s inaugural Digital Universities UK start-up competition, KEVRI impressed with its innovative software, which supports university research and knowledge exchange partnerships.
In the Cornish language, kevri means to contribute. This is just what KEVRI, the winning business at THE Digital Universities UK’s inaugural start-up competition, aims to do by facilitating knowledge exchange and impact in higher education.
Chief executive officer Natalie Campion, chief product officer Corin Mynett, and chief marketing officer Emily Devonald met on an entrepreneurship master’s degree programme at Falmouth University, using the university’s integrated venture studio to get their impact forecasting and knowledge exchange capturing software off the ground.
The team is enthusiastic about the potential to support social impact through higher education, with market research conducted during their master’s leading them to the concept of academic social responsibility – the idea that academic institutions must extend their mission to benefit society through teaching, research, service and partnerships.
KEVRI’s innovative and user-friendly software captures the social and economic value of knowledge exchange, matching university knowledge and research activities with mandatory frameworks, funding submissions and custom impact indicators. This helps universities adapt their revenue streams and curate sustainable impact pathways, as well as benefiting society at large.
Devonald emphasises the value of knowledge exchange and impact in higher education. “I think KEVRI resonated so well [with the judging panel] because we’re trying to capture the metrics that matter and the impact stories behind the projects. Every KEVRI user can create their own pathway to impact with us, and we welcome everyone to join our growing community.”
KEVRI won the start-up competition with a unanimous vote from the judging panel. “I think the judges really liked the idea of starting to track the real impact, the real stories, of our projects and partnerships,” Devonald says. “What we want to do really is capture the very start, the seed of the idea.
“What I love most about higher education institutions is that they are innovation magnets. They drive global discoveries and attract diverse staff and students to collaborate on ground-breaking projects,” Devonald says.
The importance of contribution is not only built into the company’s name but also its operations, with each of the three founders bringing their own strengths. From her previous role as a lecturer and her in-depth expertise surrounding knowledge exchange and impact industry trends, Campion has first-hand experience of the challenges that business and community engagement brings to universities. According to Devonald, Campion is “extremely focused, determined and keeps the KEVRI team on track”.
Mynett, formally a digital product designer, now ensures that KEVRI delivers visually appealing and functional digital experiences by seamlessly blending aesthetics with usability and product-market fit, while Devonald, a former higher education journalist, lends her expertise to “the story side of it, making sure the narratives are shaped to showcase their potential”.
The future is bright for KEVRI, with plans to expand the platform into Europe and globally, to continue growing its community and to raise awareness of knowledge exchange and impact within the sector. KEVRI is also developing an online course that aims to demystify knowledge exchange, which will be embedded into the September cohort of universities.
“The next year is an exciting one for us. We have a determined team, a growing network of passionate higher education professionals and intuitive software that helps our users to turn their knowledge and ideas into impact,” Devonald says.
Find out more about KEVRI and its upcoming cohort, or follow KEVRI’s journey here.
