Emerging Technologies Competition

The Emerging Technologies Competition is the Royal Society of Chemistry’s annual initiative for early stage companies and academic entrepreneurs who want to commercialise their technologies to make a global impact.

Each year we welcome applications from entrepreneurs who are developing technologies that have a strong chemistry component and fall within one of the following categories:

• Health
• Food & Drink
• Energy & Environment
• Enabling Technologies

From the application round, 24 finalists are selected to present their technologies to a panel of judges. These judges then choose 4 winners (1 per category).

Winners will.....

• Receive a cash prize of £20,000 (per competition category)
• Be assigned a Royal Society of Chemistry mentor who will provide ongoing support for one year
• Through discussion with their mentor, winners can be provided an additional £20,000 business acceleration grant (for one year)
• Gain wider support and advice from our competition partners and judges, through networking during Chemistry Means Business

Competition timeline

Competition Partners

Over the last 8 years the Emerging Technologies Competition has partnered with some of the largest multinational companies in chemistry such as: Croda, Unilever, Johnson Matthey, Pfizer, RSSL, Schlumberger, AkzoNobel, AstraZeneca and many more. These companies have not only helped judge the 194 finalists but have provided advice and mentorship to the entreprenuers and the development of their technologies.

If you are interested in becoming a competition partner please use the contact box on the left hand side to get in touch.

Applying to the competition

If you or someone you know is interested in applying for the next Emerging Technologies competition then register your interest and be the first to hear when applications open.

Criteria for entering:

• Company has less than £/€2 million turnover
• Company has less than 20 employees
• Technologies must have strong chemistry component
• Technologies must be related to one of the four competition cateogries: Health, Food & Drink, Energy & Environment and Enabling Technologies
• Applicant must be based in UK, EU, Switzerland, Norway or Iceland