Find out how the Emerging Technologies Competition winners have benefited from entering the competition, how they have transformed their business ideas and what they've got planned for the future.
Read case studies from our previous winners by year
Alivion
Handheld methanol detector
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Enabling Technologies), 2022
When you win the prize, it’s not just a prize, it's a validation that the technology you have developed is really valuable
Alivion were founded in 2020 as a spinout company from ETH Zurich after 10 years of research. They have created a mobile gas detection sensor to be used in food technology and health tech applications.
Alivion’s technology uses a nanotechnology that was created by making metal oxides in nano-powder form that then coat a sensor. These sensors then become gas molecule selective. With their technology, Alivion are now able to adapt their device sensors to a specific gas molecule to separate single gas molecules from a gas environment and quantify them. In turn, this will give feedback on the amount of potential hazardous gas that is in the environment they are testing. The first market that they are entering is methanol detection.
Emily Vipond, our programme manager from the RSC, caught up with Alivion’s CEO Kurt Ruffieux to find out what they had been up to since winning the 2022 Emerging Technologies Competition in the Enabling Technologies category.
Read morePorous Liquid Technologies
Liquids that can capture CO2 molecules
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Energy), 2022
Apply – you’ve got nothing to lose. It really has been very helpful to us and a great boost to us as a company – both in terms of the validation that we’ve got, and it’s increased our profile
Porous Liquid Technologies (PLT) is a joint-university venture from Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Liverpool that spun out in 2017.
PLT invented their technology in 2015: they essentially make liquids that have holes. “A strange idea,” as stated by Professor Stuart James, co-founder of PLT – but what this means is that other molecules like gases can enter the liquid, the liquid can then capture these molecules and they can be separated. For example, their technology can capture carbon dioxide, the key global warming gas, and stop it from entering the atmosphere.
This is just one example of the areas PLT are currently looking at with their technology to make a difference. Emily Vipond, our programme manager from the RSC, caught up with co-founder Professor Stuart James at the end of 2022 to see what they had been up to since winning the Emerging Technologies Competition in the Energy category.
Read moreLSF
Converting hydrocarbon-containing feedstocks
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Environment), 2022
It’s about the business and how the technology might sit at the heart of that, and trying to tell the bigger story
LSF is a Chemtech company that has developed a patented electrochemical process to convert hydrocarbon-containing feedstocks, such as end-of-life tyres and post-mechanical plastics, and produce circular outputs that are used to make biofuels, new plastics, rubber tyres, chemicals and other industrial products.
The company was founded five years ago by John Taylor, who is the principal designer and developer of the patented technology, and Glenn Halliday, who brings a wealth of knowledge from the oil and gas sector.
Emily Vipond, our programme manager from the RSC, caught up with co-founder Glenn Halliday at the end of 2022 to see what they had been up to since winning the Emerging Technologies Competition in the Environment category.
Read moreThe feedback you get on your application even if you don’t get through is really helpful […] even if you don’t get in, it’s worth applying just for that feedback
MetalloBio was founded in 2021 as a spinout company from the University of Sheffield. The company has created a new class of antimicrobials that will initially target respiratory infections, but the technology has the capability to target a wider range of infectious diseases in the future. MetalloBio are also looking at incorporating the compounds into polymers and at coating medical devices, so there are two sides to the company – and both are moving forwards well.
Katie Springham, our programme manager from the RSC, caught up with MetalloBio’s CEO and co-founder Kirsty Smitten to find out what they had been up to since winning the 2022 Emerging Technologies Competition in the Health category.
Read moreBio-Sep
Converting waste products into biochemicals
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Enabling Technologies), 2021
One of the major outcomes of winning the competition was the huge interest from investors.... the spotlight and marketing the competition provided for the company was huge
Thirteen years ago, a sugar chemist saw the amount of waste produced by the sugar extraction process and decided there must be a more sustainable approach. The goal was to find a use for these waste products, instead of simply burning them. And so, after much research, Bio-Sep’s patented technology was created.
Fast-forward to today, and Bio-Sep is utilising targeted, high efficiency power ultrasound to sustainably fractionate woody biomass (such as trees and grass) and convert it into platform chemicals for use in industry. The resulting biochemical products also have end uses in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, resins, glues and construction materials.
Bio-Sep is made up of six team members and Emily Vipond, Programme Manager at the RSC caught up with chief chemist, Andy West, at the end of 2021 to see what the company has been working on since winning the 2021 Emerging Technologies Competition in the Enabling Technologies category.
Read moreGaussion
Making batteries faster
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Energy & Environment), 2021
It is just such a unique opportunity to be able to pick the brains of people who know so much about a variety of sectors that you might want to focus on in the future. Having them all in one place, sharing their thoughts and challenging yours
Every electrochemical device in the world operates using electrochemistry. Gaussion’s mission is to help these devices operate faster and more efficiently by encouraging the shift to using magnets, thanks to its position as one of the first magneto-electrochemical companies [in the world] focusing on fast-charging lithium-ion batteries.
Gaussion is an imminent spin-out from University College London, where founders Tom Heenan and Chun Tan met while completing their PhDs and collaborated with their PhD supervisors to start the company.
Emily Vipond, Programme Manager at the RSC caught up with Tom at the end of 2021 to see what he has been working on at Gaussion since winning the 2021 Emerging Technologies Competition in the Energy and Environment category in 2021.
Read more
Somnus Scientific
Real-time blood propofol concentration monitoring
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Health), 2021
Practice getting your story right, although this is a scientific competition, remember to tell the story about how the science fits into a commercial plan.
Each year, over 400 million general anaesthetics are given globally. Around 90 to 95% of these are dependent on the use of anaesthetic gases. Unfortunately, these potent greenhouses gases are incredibly damaging to the environment – tens of thousands of times more potent than CO2 in terms of their ability to retain heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
However, for last 25 years, there has been an alternative to using gas: propofol by continuous infusion. One downfall with this method is that anaesthetists can only measure the concentration of the propofol in a patient’s system to ensure patients are adequately anesthetised by taking blood samples and sending them to a lab. What is really needed is real-time, point of care measurement.
Somnus Scientific recognised this unmet need in the healthcare industry and was established by three people with backgrounds that range from practicing anaesthetist to clinical researcher and a specialist fundraiser. Significantly, all three founders are serial entrepreneurs, having previously established successful med-tech businesses. Together, they developed a sensor that can measure the propofol concentration in a patient’s blood in real time.
Emily Vipond, Programme Manager at the RSC caught up with Tim Craft, the co-founder and CEO of Somnus Scientific, to see what the company has been up to since winning the 2021 Emerging Technologies competition in the Health category.
Read moreSphera Encapsulation
Specialists in micro and nano encapsulation
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Food & Drink), 2021
Absolutely do it!
Sphera Encapsulation is an Italian start-up that was founded by women and specialises in sustainable micro- and nanoencapsulation, with technology created either in-house or for a client’s specific needs. The company’s market offering ranges from food and nutraceutical, to agricultural and cosmetic applications. Recently, Sphera Encapsulation has been awarded two European projects, one of which will expand its portfolio into the cement industry to help make housing more energy-efficient. The second project involves looking at surfactants from algae sources.
Emily Vipond, Programme Manager at the RSC caught up with Martina Vakarelova, the co-CEO of Sphera Encapsulation, who founded the company with Francesca Zanoni when they met during their PhDs, to find out what she and the company have been up to since winning the 2021 Emerging Technologies Competition in the Food and Drink category.
Read moreViridi CO2
Closing the carbon loop
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Energy & Environment), 2020
The publicity and credibility the competition bought us has springboarded conversations with potential customers
ViridiCO2 is an imminent spin-out from the University of Southampton that enables greater sustainability by allowing chemical manufacturers to derive products using CO2 as a feedstock, producing circular products and closing the carbon loop.
ViridiCO2 is led by its CEO, Dr Daniel Stewart, a research fellow from the University of Southampton.
We caught up with Daniel at the end of 2020 to see what he and ViridiCO2 have been up to since winning the Energy & Environment category of the Emerging Technologies Competition.
Read moreChromosol
Optical communications systems for reduced data centre power consumption
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Enabling Technologies), 2020
The mentoring scheme has been really useful as another sounding board
Chromosol are developing a Silicon Photonics platform to provide silicon based lasers and amplifiers. There is an urgent need for low cost, low power, small form factor and high performance photonics to serve our ever increasing data needs – Chromosol’s technology is looking to solve this problem.
Chromosol was founded by Professor William Gillin, a professor in physics at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the CTO of Chromosol. William has been working in the broad area of telecommunications since his PhD and has an interest in lasers and optical signals from a materials perspective. He formed Chromosol to continue working on infrared materials for telecoms.
We caught up with William at the end of 2020 to see what he and Chromosol have been up to since winning the Enabling Technologies category of the Emerging Technologies Competition.
Read moreHoxton Farms
Mathematical modelling for cultivated meat production
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Food & Drink), 2020
Every single person we have spoken to says congratulations on winning the competition. It has been the biggest external validation that we’ve got, having the Royal Society of Chemistry’s stamp of approval
Hoxton Farms grow real animal fat without the animals. Starting from just a few cells taken harmlessly from an animal, Hoxton Farms then grow the fat in cultivators to produce real animal fat as an ingredient for the meat alternatives industry. This process produces plant based meat that can look, cook and taste just as well as the real thing. It also helps to reduce our reliance on animal agriculture, which causes 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, is the single largest consumer of habitable land and fresh water, and accounts for 60% of all animal borne diseases. We have seen through the COVID-19 pandemic, how much havoc animal diseases can wreak on the human population.
Hoxton Farms is led by two co-founders, Max Jamilly and Ed Steele. Max, a synthetic biologist, helps to re-create the same conditions that allow animal fats to grow inside an animal, outside an animal. Ed , a mathematician by background, optimises that process in order to scale up production of cultivated animal fat, through mathematical modelling.
We caught up with Max at the beginning of 2021 to see what he and Hoxton Farms have been up to since winning the Food & Drink category of the Emerging Technologies Competition.
Read moreUniversity of Bath
Ensilicated vaccines
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Health), 2020
Having the Royal Society of Chemistry supporting us and backing us has helped us in making that step [in spinning out]
Asel Sartbaeva is a lecturer in chemistry at the University of Bath with a background in inorganic chemistry. Recently Asel has been working on a technology which bridges inorganic chemistry and biochemistry.
The technology Asel has been developing is a process called ensilication, whereby inorganic material, silica, is used to stabilize biologicals. Her research started out by encasing proteins in silica, creating a hard casing around the softer protein chain which helps preserve and stop the denaturing of the proteins. Asel was initially interested in using this technology to stabilise vaccine components, but is looking at other applications such as antibodies, protein complexes, viruses, bacterial spores and enzymes.
We caught up with Asel at the beginning of 2021 to see what she has been up to since winning the Health category of the Emerging Technologies Competition.
Read moreCambridge Photon Technology
Boosting solar module power
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Energy & Environment), 2019
Conversations we had with the Emerging Technologies Competition judges provided strong validation of our technology
Cambridge Photon Technology’s photon multiplication film (PMF) has the potential to raise the power output of solar photovoltaic modules by as much as 20%. Manufacturers can use PMF without significant changes to their designs or processes, which makes it a simple and cost-effective way of significantly boosting module power.
Read moreThermulon
Improving building insulation
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Energy and Environment), 2019
We had numerous conversations with the competition judges and follow up calls with two of the competition partners who have given us advice and put us in touch with contacts in their organisations interested in using our technology
Thermulon Ltd’s novel technology is the first high performance, non-combustible building insulation material to improve energy efficiency and meet changing fire regulations. It combines new techniques to synthesise complex nanoporous insulation materials at scale, offering an alternative to current insulation materials that are either non-combustible but with low thermal performance or high performance and flammable.
Read moreRosa Biotech
Creating olfactory fingerprints
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Health), 2019
Winning the competition and conversations we had with the competition judges validated our technology and build confidence with our investors
Rosa Biotech’s sensing platform mimics the mammalian olfactory system using an array of computationally designed barrel-shaped proteins which produce distinctive colour changes in response to a huge variety of analytes. These arrays create characteristic fingerprints that can be interpreted by machine learning to make commercial and clinical predictions.
Read moreRUBYnanomed
Tracking cancer progression
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Health), 2019
Winning the competition, we were able to build a strong reputation in the UK, Spain and Portugal and establish our technology’s credibility among investors, oncologists and industry partners
RUBYnanomed’s microfluidic device offers a non-invasive and precise snapshot of cancer progression. The RUBYchip isolates all types of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) from unprocessed whole blood, helping doctors to adjust therapy in real time.
Read moreMimica
Reducing food waste
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Food and Drink), 2019
The prize money enabled us to hire a chemical engineer to help us with scale up of our company
Mimica is a next generation food expiry label or cap that both reduces food waste and improves food safety. The label is low-cost enough to be used on any package across the supply chain, from production to the consumer’s fridge, and provides an accurate, real-time indication of product freshness.
Read moreMajico
Cleaning water locally
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Food and Drink), 2019
The awareness and recognition we gained through winning the competition has helped us gain traction with potential partners and suppliers
Majico’s hyper-local water kiosks harness nanomaterials to create water purifying, storing and dispensing systems that are small-scale, low-power and affordable. These kiosks will be used by water vendors in Tanzania, allowing them to produce clean water to sell in their own communities.
Read moreHexigone Inhibitors
Safer, smarter protection against corrosion
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Enabling Technologies), 2019
To have the recognition from the Royal Society of Chemistry… was really fantastic. [Its] reputation and how people view and admire it – it's got a lot of integrity.
Hexigone manufactures high performance corrosion inhibitors which make coatings ‘chemically intelligent’, offering a safer, smarter and up to ten times more effective alternative to protect metal assets.
Read moreRefeyn Ltd
Weighing molecules with light
Emerging Technologies Competition winner (Enabling Technologies), 2019
Winning the Emerging Technologies Competition and recognition from The Scientist and R&D 100 we saw a significant increase in enquiries from both existing and potential new customers
Mass photometry enables accurate mass measurement of single molecules in minutes. The low sample amount required, and the ability to measure molecules in solution, in their native state, without the need for labels, opens up new possibilities for bioanalytics and research into biomolecular functions.
Read moreAqdot Ltd
Aqdot entered the competition to gain exclusive access to the competition’s partner companies, enabling them to carry out essential market research with multinationals from a wide range of fields.
Since winning in 2013 they have received over £15 m in equity and grant funding investment, doubled their number of employees and launched products to market.
Immaterial
Immaterial, a spin out of the University of Cambridge, have developed a breakthrough technology which enables the widescale use of a novel class of materials. The competition prize money and other funding meant Immaterial have been able to scale up and expand since winning in 2015.
AquAffirm
AquAffirm have developed innovative tests and software for measuring, mapping and monitoring contaminants in drinking water. One year on from winning the competition in 2018 AquAffirm have been able to conduct significant research and testing of their prototype.
Oxford BioTrans
Oxford Biotrans is helping transform the flavour and fragrance market with a novel way of producing high-value compounds using enzyme technology. Its first product on the market is nootkatone – which has the flavour and scent of grapefruit.
Since winning in 2018 they already have a product on the market
Green Lizard Technologies
Green Lizard Technologies Ltd have developed a novel, vitamin-based technology for the purification of vegetable oils. The technology reduces various impurities and eliminates carcinogenic compounds such as 3-MCPD. The vitamin can be regenerated and reused in further oil purification and contributes to significant reductions in process intensity and provides safety and security for consumers.
Green Lizard Technologies is currently developing methods which work with a wide range of oils to meeting growing global demand.
nanoHEX
Oxford nanoSystems’s nanoHEX technology could transform the space and environmental efficiency of heat exchange processes from fridges to cooling systems for high-tech electronics.
Read how they are already working with manufacturers 9 months on from winning in 2018.
SweetGen
SweetGen Ltd has created the first abiotic fuel cell capable of breaking down organic molecules when presented with complex mixtures such as waste water and has developed a new family of catalysts that enable faster, lower-cost and less energy-intensive water treatment procedures.
Read what they have been up to since winning in 2016
University of Liverpool
The university group entered the competition to publicise their formaldehyde removal technology and receive vital feedback from relevant industry.
Read how the group have progressed from a proof of concept to a working prototype air filtration system.
MRC
MRC entered the competition to achieve greater visibility for their technology and to receive strategic advice from key players in industry on how to progress.
Two years on they’ve secured $1.7m in Gates Foundation funding and conducted two new clinical trials in the Gambia.
Biogelx Ltd
Biogelx entered the Emerging Technologies Competition knowing that a major market opportunity was to sell their products to big-pharma companies and wanted the chance to be mentored by someone relevant to the industry they were trying to attract.
With the help of GSK, Biogelx have successfully marketed their technology, opened an office in the US, and raised £650,000 of equity investment.
Catalytic Technologies Ltd
Catalytic Technologies Ltd saw entering the competition as an ideal opportunity to raise their profile with potential customers, suppliers and collaborators, and to increase their credibility in the markets they wanted to enter.
Two years on, the company are now performing commercial trails across the globe.
University of Oxford
When Professor Kylie Vincent’s research group entered the Emerging Technologies Competition, their technology had been proven to work on a small scale in the laboratory but they needed expertise to take their idea to the next level.
After GSK supported their funding bid, the group secured a £2.9m grant to take their technology towards market.
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