Chemistry pioneers celebrated at awards for life-changing innovations
The most exciting chemical science innovators in Europe were awarded a share of £80,000 at our flagship industry event in London this week.
The eight winners of our annual Emerging Technologies Competition were revealed after entrants competed in a challenging pitch process in front of an expert panel of judges at London’s Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre.
The competition was held as part of our Chemistry Means Business event, which brings together pioneers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders for a showcase of the success and innovation in the chemical science sector across the UK and Europe.
And the winner is...
After a rigorous application process in which applicants put forward their ideas to improve lives across Health, Food and Drink, Enabling Technologies and Energy and the Environment, 37 innovators were invited to pitch their ideas to the panel of judges.
The eight winners chosen for 2019 were:
1 Rosa Biotech
2 RUBYnanomed
3 Cambridge Photon Technology
4 Thermulon Ltd
5 Hexigone Inhibitors
6 Refyn Ltd
7 Mimica Labs
8 Majico
Aurora Antemir, Head of Industry at the Royal Society of Chemistry said: "Chemistry Means Business pairs the next generation of chemistry innovators with the blue-chip companies that can take their ideas forward.
"Both the winners and finalists this year have undoubtedly been amongst the most innovative we’ve seen yet. We’re looking forward to seeing how these incredible new ideas and innovations will deliver really exciting real-world benefits."
Rewarding and supporting innovation
Now in its seventh year, the competition brings cutting-edge science to the real world for the benefit of society. Previous winners have gone on to raise a combined total of over £32m in equity investment and grant funding, with one company subsequently being sold for £28m. Winners have also expanded overseas, entered commercial contracts, conducted clinical and industrial scale trials, and collectively doubled their staff.
Each winner will receive £/€ 10,000, support from competition partners (Unilever, Pfizer, Johnson Matthey, RSSL and Croda) and intensive business and pitch training at Cambridge Judge Business school.
Health
Rosa Biotech, Bristol, UK
Rosa Biotech has developed a sensing platform that mimics the mammalian olfactory system. It computationally designs barrel-shaped proteins which produce distinctive colour changes in response to a huge variety of analytes.
By using barrel arrays, it creates characteristic fingerprints that are interpreted by machine learning to make commercial and clinical predictions.
Andy Boyce, from Rosa Biotech, said: “It’s a really incredible validation to be recognised with an award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, a very prestigious organisation. It is especially amazing for us because we’re such an early company – we only really got going in earnest in August.”
RUBYnanomed, Braga, Portugal
RUBYnanomed has developed a precise cancer snapshot tool, the RUBYchip, a microfluidic device for isolating all types of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) from unprocessed whole blood.
In this way, RUBYnanomed offers a non-invasive and real-time snapshot of cancer progression to oncologists.
Lorena Diéguez, from RUBYnanomed, said: “We are very happy and proud to receive this award and truly grateful for the recognition.”
“This award comes at a great time for us as we are in a position now to look for investors and this gives us encouragement that our innovation has the potential to do great things.”
Enabling Technologies
Hexigone Inhibitors, Baglan, near Port Talbot, Wales, UK
The company makes corrosion inhibitors for smart coatings. Buildings and infrastructure are under daily stress from the elements which can cause costly damage, that needs repairing or replacing to avoid structures breaking or, at worst, collapsing.
Hexigone's products are safer, smarter and up to 10 times more effective than market leading alternatives allowing users to deliver a superior product to customers by protecting their assets, and the environment, for longer.
Refeyn Ltd, Oxford, UK
Mass photometry enables accurate mass measurement of single molecules in solution, in their native state and without the need for labels.
This proprietary technology allows the quantification of biomolecules in minutes and using only very low amounts of sample - opening up new possibilities for bioanalytics and research into biomolecular functions.
Energy and the Environment
Cambridge Photon Technology, Cambridge, UK
Cambridge Photon Technology are developing a photon multiplication film (PMF) that will raise the power output of solar modules by as much as 20%.
PMF does not require manufacturers to make significant changes to their designs or processes, and provides the simplest and most cost-effective way of significantly boosting module power.
Cambridge Photon Technology, said: “This award is a great validation from the RSC of the work that we’re doing – it’s early stage technology and serious R&D, so it’s had its ups and downs but we’re making serious progress and this award give us confidence to keep progressing this to provide cost effective ways of boosting solar power.”
Thermulon Ltd, Stockton-On-Tees, UK
Current insulation materials are either low-thermal-performance and non-combustible (mineral wool) or high-performance and burn (phenolics).
Thermulon has designed a novel continuous chemical process combining new techniques to synthesise complex nanoporous insulation materials at scale. The first high-performance and non-combustible building insulation material to meet increasing energy efficiency and fire regulations.
Sam Cryer from Thermulon, said: “It’s been fantastic to see so many other start-ups doing some fantastic things, especially in the energy and environment space where it’s very much needed, so it’s an honour to have this award.”
Food and Drink
Majico, Cambridge, UK
Majico is developing hyper-local water kiosks that 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 and sell clean water into their own communities.
Jeroen Verheyen from Majico, said: “We are very pleased to win this award. It’s a bit of a springboard for us as we’re at the stage where we’re creating a MVP and there’s a slight funding gap – so the prize money will help us to get all the way there, create the product and then head out to Tanzania to do our beta testing. If the testing is successful, then we’ll hopefully be in a position to launch the product.”
Mimica, London, UK
Mimica Touch is a next generation food expiry label that both reduces food waste and improves food safety by providing an accurate, real-time indication of the product’s freshness. The label is low-cost enough to be deployed on any package across the supply chain, from production to the consumer’s fridge.
Lawrie Matthews, from Mimica, said: “We were delighted and honoured to win the RSC Emerging Technologies Competition. We appreciate the increasingly important role that the RSC is playing in promoting disruptive sustainable chemistry to the business world.
"The Mimica team is really excited about our next steps in saving millions of pounds of food waste, and the award will help us accelerate that. We’re scaling-up the manufacture of our patented Mimica Touch lids for the juice-based beverage market right across Europe, with the leading juice suppliers and brands.”
