Ground-breaking innovations celebrated at 10th Emerging Technologies Competition
Four life-changing ideas that could transform the world around us have been named winners of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s tenth Emerging Technologies Competition.
Our 2022 winners are:
Enabling Technologies: Alivion AG
Methanol poisoning causes blindness or even death. Yet, methanol detector for diagnosis by breath analysis or screening of beverages are not available. Here, a handheld, nanostructured sensor is presented for highly selective methanol detection in less than 2 min. This device enables on-site analyses by distillers, authorities and health professionals.
Energy: Porous Liquid Technologies
Porous Liquid Technologies is a unique technology enabling ultra-efficient CO2 capture by combining low cost, readily available porous liquids and solids to create an easily recyclable/regenerable liquid, with high CO2 capacity. These liquids display huge cost advantages and thermal stability over current technology. Physisorbed gas can be released at low energy by simple temperature/pressure swing.
Environment: Low Sulphur Fuels (LSF)
LSF has developed a unique chemical recycling process to convert used hydrocarbon containing feedstocks and produce circular outputs that can used to make new plastics, rubbers, chemicals and other industrial products.
Health: MetalloBio Limited
MetalloBio have developed a novel ruthenium platform technology with application potential as a systemic antibiotic and as a coating for medical devices. The compounds that underpin the platform are more active than clinical antibiotics, have a novel multi-modal mechanism of action, little-no-emergence of resistance and represent a new antimicrobial class.
Presenters had to convince a panel of industry heavyweights from some of the most famous companies in the world that their innovations could tackle societal, environmental and economic challenges facing the world today.
The winners share £160,000 of no strings funding and support to accelerate and grow their businesses.
Dr Helen Pain, CEO of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: “This year’s Emerging Technologies Competition is perhaps the most important yet. Now, perhaps more than at any point in recent years, we need to encourage dynamic, innovative companies to chase their ambitions and turn their ideas into successful businesses.
“This is the 10th time that we have held the Emerging Technologies Competition, celebrating cutting-edge technologies and innovations that truly are tackling some of the world’s most pressing problems.
“If it were needed, the astonishing standard of the finalists and the incredibly difficult job the judges had picking winners, provided further evidence that chemical science’s industry is thriving and continuing to find incredible new ways to help society and drive economic growth.”
The event saw 23 finalists come together for the final, which has been designed to celebrate and recognise the role of chemistry in solving problems across the world – and how crucial it is to creating companies that deliver sustained benefit to the economy.
Tackling the world's biggest challenges
The internationally renowned panel of judges included representation from organisations such as AstraZeneca, Boots, bp, Croda, Johnson Matthew, PETRONAS, Reckitt Benckiser, Scott Bader and Unilever. After an initial application process, finalists were invited to pitch their innovations to the panel before winners were decided.
The competition showcases some of the most promising chemistry applications across four core categories. This year, entrants represented a range of proposals from tech innovators, start-ups and spin outs.
Each winner gains £20,000 prize money, as well as specifically assigned co-mentors and a further £20,000 available as a business acceleration grant.
The competition provides a unique platform for innovators to engage with and learn from these large multinational partners and judges to raise awareness and gain industry validation for their innovations.
Past successes
Since the Emerging Technologies Competition began in 2013, finalists and winners have gone on to raise £775million in grant and equity funding. One winner has since been acquired for £28m, one of the competition's finalists was acquired for £623m, and another has since raised a $350m IPO on the US Nasdaq.
Find out more
Hear from our winners and find out about the many other promising emerging technologies from our brilliant 2022 finalists.