Record Number of Nominations Expected For 2022 #21toWatch Innovation Awards
NOMINATIONS are now open for the 2022 #21toWatch Innovation Awards which celebrate the cream of ground-breaking talent across all technology sectors in Cambridge and across East Anglia.
Last year, according to the Centre for Entrepreneurs, a record 772,002 new businesses launched in the UK during the pandemic, up some 13.25% on the previous year – and the response to #21toWatch is expected to be similarly enthusiastic.
#21toWatch recognises the Top21 outstanding people, companies and innovations in our region, providing high-level exposure and kudos, and increasing opportunities for funding and investment for the winning candidates. This is your opportunity to nominate that standout someone or something making a positive impact on our world.
Each year, hundreds of nominations are received from new enterprises and individuals, with each submission assessed on five markers of Innovation, Challenge, Influence, Viability and Memorability to ensure the most exciting startups make the initial longlist.
Now into its fourth year, #21toWatch is the brainchild of Cambridge-based entrepreneur and technology investor, Faye Holland.
She says: “I am enormously proud to live in the UK’s most inventive city, which receives four times the amount of tech investment per head than in London and has more patents published per resident than any other UK city. I can’t think of anywhere more exciting to work than here at the cutting edge of tech innovation.
“Every year, we are witness to exciting new technology startups and sectors emerging, and are blown away by the breadth of creative talent with each nomination we receive. We had a bumper year of nominations for #21toWatch in 2021 – and, similarly, we anticipate receiving a record number of submissions this year. One thing’s for sure, these are the people, companies and things that are inspiring and shaping our future.”
Being selected as one of the Top21 winners in the Company category last year, kicked off an amazing year for Echion Technologies, makers of super-fast six-minute charging battery materials for electric cars. They recently completed their £10M Series A funding.
Gita Khalili Moghaddam , CEO of GlycoVue, is another Top21 2021 winner. Her award-winning imaging innovation is helping to improve surgical outcomes for brain tumour and breast cancer patients. She says: “The response to the #21toWatch announcement was so good that two investors very quickly approached me.”
Agritech firm, Herdsy , which produces the only technology to help beef farmers make their businesses more profitable, won in the 2020 ‘things’ category. CEO Richard Hobson says: “Just being on the #21toWatch longlist raised our profile beyond our wildest expectations and changed our company direction forever. It was a gamechanger for our small company that put us on the radar of several high-profile customers and investors, which led to our company being profiled in the Sunday Times. People have actually heard of us now, and customers and investors google us and rate us amongst the best globally as a direct result. How many lists can you say that about?”
This year’s judging is set to be as tough as ever, with stringent qualifying processes in place.
Faye Holland says: “The quality of the submissions, year on year, has ensured the indisputable credibility of #21toWatch, and it is widely regarded as a highly respected accolade to be listed in the prestigious Top21 – so it’s important to have a tough qualifying process in place. Good luck to all the entrants this year!”
The Cambridge Independent, who are once again partnering in the Awards, are delighted to exclusively reveal three of the first entrants to qualify and accept the nominations for their respective #21toWatch lists.
These are as follows:
People: Jeroen Verheyen
Jeroen is Co-Founder and CEO at Semarion, an interdisciplinary Cambridge spin-out which is solving key bottlenecks around cell assays in drug discovery through a revolutionary advanced material platform. Jeroen first appeared on the long list in 2021 and returns to the list this year after leading Semarion to start alpha trials of their first product on assay-ready cells with the Milner Therapeutics Institute.
Company: Porotech
Porotech is a spin-out from the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride (GaN) in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. This summer, they announced a £3m investment to build on their unique production method of a new class of porous GaN semiconductor materials, from which a wide range of materials properties and functionalities can be engineered. Porotech intends to commercialise this porous GaN material platform technology and device solutions in conjunction with its partner and foundry network. To this end, it is offering offers an entirely new platform for semiconductor devices to be built upon, such as Micro-LEDs displays, lasers, power and RF electronics, quantum computing and communication. The company has made significant technical and commercial progress, which has certainly made them a company to watch.
Things: Rnwl
The #21toWatch 2022 list also sees Rnwl , an Insurtech startup, making a return having previously been shortlisted in 2020. Led by serial entrepreneur Goncalo de Vasconcelos, Rnwl has been busy building its team, crowdfunding and earning recognition as an important FinTech company. Rnwl is focused on developing an App to help you achieve insurance peace of mind by automatically organising and managing policies and the things which keep them valid.
Closing date for submissions is 14 th January 2022 and the shortlist will be announced in February. A panel of independent judges will determine the Top21 who will be unveiled in a unique event on 3 rd March 2022.
You can make your nomination or submission for #21toWatch and find out more about the programme at www.cofinitive.com/21toWatch and by following #21toWatch on social media.
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