Percy Tussamba, a third-year Biomedical Engineering student at Queen Mary, gained a business mentor and caught the attention of investors after being featured in a TED documentary that highlighted his journey to delivering a standout TED talk.

In December 2024, Percy gave a TED talk after submitting his idea for a boxing project to help refugees to realise their potential.

TED produced a short documentary about this endeavour as part of their 'My Big Idea' series, which documents the process of imagining and then creating a TED Talk, featuring first-time speakers and ideas new to the TED stage.

Percy is from Luanda in Angola and came to the UK as a refugee in his late teens. After a difficult journey and immigration process, Percy felt stuck, until a friend invited him to a boxing gym, where he immediately found a passion and focus. “It was a place where I felt like I wasn’t left out” he says in the documentary.

“Boxing gave me three amazing skills: persistence, perseverance and patience… for me, fighting is about showing up.”

These are skills Percy put towards learning English and studying, and after just three years in the UK, he gained a place to study Biomedical Engineering at Queen Mary. The documentary shows him in our labs, working with Prof Karin Hing. Of his Queen Mary experience so far, Percy says: “I’ve learnt many things and met great people along the way”.

“I definitely can say that boxing helped me to get to university in the first place. Having that discipline definitely allowed me to calm down and just dedicate to my own goal, and working towards that bigger picture.”

Percy’s big idea is to share what he gained from boxing with other people from refugee backgrounds. “It’s time to go out and send the ladder back down” he said in his TED talk.

“Imagine a place where young people from refugee backgrounds can feel a sense of belonging. Can rewrite their own stories. And can learn how to box. And can feel like they are present and they belong in that place.”

Following his TED talk, Percy was introduced to Neelay Bhatt, a business consultant from a migrant background who has worked with sport clients including the Super Bowl and the Olympics. He told Percy that after watching the talk: “I wanted to go out and start boxing myself, you inspired me so much”. The two are now working together to develop Percy’s business plan.

Percy's idea also gained the attention of Cindy Ngamba, a boxer who won the first medal for the Refugee Olympics team in 2023. Percy hopes to see the team support his organisation, and the two have plans to train together soon.

Percy has since been invited back to TED events, speaking at the Planet Hope TED event in Brighton last week.

You can watch one of his TED talks in full on YouTube, and watch the TED documentary below.