In the latest of a new series we invited some of Univ’s entrepreneurs to talk about what inspires them and how they got started on their entrepreneurial journey.

Raphael Chow (2010, MBiochem Biochemistry) is CEO and Co-founder of Wevat, a tech startup based in London that is helping tourists visiting Europe to claim a tax refund on shopping. Prior to co-founding Wevat, Raphael worked as a Strategy Consultant at Monitor Deloitte. Having raised nearly £4m in funding from angel investors and VC funds, Raphael knows how challenging the life of an entrepreneur can be. He’s passionate about helping other founders and founders to-be, and in his spare time also runs a community called “Nest” to support Chinese diaspora founders in the hope of enriching diversity in the London startup scene.

“Univ’s warm, collegiate atmosphere really helped me push my boundaries to beyond my degree, and kindled an insatiable curiosity for things across many disciplines. The countless fun, intellectual chats over formal or informal hall broke down barriers about who I thought I had to become, and really inspired me to look beyond my discipline.

“I founded Wevat out of a desire to help people around me through a frustratingly cumbersome journey: getting tax refunds on shopping. Every year, millions of tourists visiting the UK and Europe have to ask the shop for a tax refund form every time they make a purchase, manually fill in the forms, and queue at the airport for a customs stamp. The two hour queues at Heathrow Airport were a testament to the fact that something needed to change.”

Web: wevat.com
Twitter: @WevatApp
Facebook: wevat

Raphael has been named in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for 2021, selected from thousands of international nominations.

This feature was adapted from one first published in Issue 13 of The Martlet; read the full magazine here or explore our back catalogue of Martlets below:

Published: 23 August 2021

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