The success comes after an unprecedented 16 teams from Lancaster entered the contest, submitting their business proposals to potential investors and competition judges.

Now in its ninth year, the China UK Entrepreneurship Challenge was established by leading universities in the UK to provide a platform for student entrepreneurs to hone their business plans and secure an investment opportunity of £500,000. This year, the stakes have been raised as a cash prize fund of £14,000 and a potential free workspace in London are up for grabs.

The workshop round of the competition, which was held last week at UCL, saw 20 teams from across the country competing, including 10 teams from Lancaster. The workshop consisted of a Business Model Masterclass led by David Chapman, Deputy Director of UCL Management School, and a panel interview in which teams presented their business plans. At the end of this process, the 20 teams were whittled down to eight. These teams will compete at an exciting Dragon’s Den-style semi-final held at Edinburgh University next month.

Lancaster’s four semi-finalists are Team Finno (from the MBA programme), Team IDDE (from the MSc International Innovation programme), Team Sonics English (from the MSc International Innovation programme) and Team CareForYou (from the MSc Project Management programme). The next round will see them defend their business plans to a panel of high profile judges.

Professor David Brown, Director of the Lancaster China Management Centre, said: “I wish them the best of luck and have my fingers crossed that they will make it into the final at the Bank of China in July. I will be chairing the judges but in a strictly non-voting capacity!”

On the record number of Lancaster entries, he said: “This exceptional response from over 50 Lancaster students demonstrates the growing interest in the China agenda across LUMS and beyond.”