21toWatch

#21toWatch 2026 Winners Revealed: Deeptech Founders Tackling Society’s Toughest Health and Climate Challenges

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 12:13:48 GMT

The #21toWatch Top21.2026 winners have been announced at an awards ceremony at The Glasshouse innovation hub in Cambridge.

The annual, future-facing awards showcase the next generation of high-potential founders and technically ambitious ventures emerging from Cambridge and the wider East of England. This year’s Top21 reflects Cambridge’s deeptech signature while tackling some of society’s most persistent challenges.

The list is dominated by a new wave of innovation for overlooked and under-treated health challenges including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), endometriosis, stroke recovery, maternal-fetal health, neurodegeneration and brain health - conditions that have long been underfunded and where progress has been slow despite patient need remaining high. The winning founders open new therapeutic and clinical possibilities by combining engineering, AI and life sciences, and applying precision biology, advanced diagnostics and continuous monitoring (via smart textiles and wearable technologies).

The winners’ list also includes exciting deeptech solutions tackling systemic challenges across climate and industry - including next-generation climate tech (spanning materials, infrastructure and energy storage), frontier technology to ensure clean energy, resilient energy systems, industrial decarbonisation, safer environments and trustworthy AI, and bioengineering platforms reshaping drug discovery.

Most importantly, across the list, founders are building enabling technologies designed not just to solve single problems, but capable of transforming multiple sectors simultaneously to strengthen the resilience, efficiency and intelligence of the systems underpinning modern life.

The seven Top21.2026 Companies are:

Cyclana Bio – An interdisciplinary team combining computational and tissue-level biology to target endometriosis by addressing the extracellular matrix, a previously underexplored driver of disease.

FactTrace – Developing core truth infrastructure for the AI era, preserving meaning and integrity as language moves between humans, systems and machines - a growing requirement for enterprise, institutional and governmental decision-making.

Loop52 – A circular plastics platform for the automotive sector, connecting dismantlers, recyclers and OEMs to meet EU recycled-content regulations at scale.

Protalea Bio – Developing therapies that halt the progression of cancer and neurodegeneration by targeting pre-disease inflammation before irreversible damage occurs.

Serenatis Bio – Developing three precision-medicine drug candidates for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), targeting distinct glutamate and dopamine pathways to address a large unmet clinical and commercial need.

Shuffle Energy – Delivering the software layer connecting heat pumps, hot water tanks and e-boilers to energy markets, reducing electric heating costs by 30–60%.

SomNyx – An AI-powered, textile-based sleep wearable enabling clinical-grade sleep monitoring from hospital to home, supporting early diagnosis of neurological conditions.

The seven Top21.2026 People are:

Aliki Marina Tsopelakou, CLEAR-Methane: Aliki is leading the social venture, CLEAR-Methane at Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge - developing photochemical filtration technologies for ventilation systems, improving indoor air quality while reducing atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, to deliver combined public-health and environmental benefits with significant climate impact.

Callon Peate, co-founder, GreenMixes: a startup on a mission to build a carbon-negative future with a drop-in cement admixture, delivering the cheapest, most scalable route to fully decarbonising concrete and turning buildings into long-term carbon sinks.

Gemma Swan, University of Cambridge: Gemma has developed a novel, highly efficient plant transfection mechanism, integrated into a prototype device, with the aim of enabling large-scale protein production in plant systems.

Mila (Mahlaqua) Noor, Gates Cambridge alumna and postdoctoral Bye-Fellow: Mila is investigating cytomegalovirus placental transmission to develop antiviral strategies improving maternal-fetal health.

Omer Nivron, co-founder, Ötzi: A unique venture is on a mission to tackle one of the finance industry's biggest blind spots: the actual cost of climate risk. To this end, Ötzi has built the first physics-informed AI model generating risk forecasts out to 2050, which are not only more accurate than the competition but also faster and radically more cost-effective. This isn't just about better pricing for insurers; it's about a more resilient future.

Osarenkhoe Ogbeide, co-leader, Obasense: A startup creating a new form of low-cost, hyper-sensitive sensors using advanced nanomaterials for detecting toxic and dangerous gases and pollutants for multiple areas and industries.

Sara AlMahri, co-founder of Mina AI: building an agentic AI execution layer for supply chains, shifting the industry from passive information to active intelligence that takes action and - applied across procurement, logistics, and compliance for manufacturers, governments, and ports.

The seven Top21.2026 ‘Things’ (Innovations) are from:

Cambridge Atomworks: Nuclear fission micro-reactor providing reliable power to replace diesel for energy intensive local power requirements in off-grid situations such as mining and remote communities.

HotHouse Therapeutics: Rewriting the future of drug discovery with BotanAI and BotanBio - AI and plant bioengineering platforms that design and make molecules no other laboratories can reach.

Kodiaq Technologies: Pioneering a drop-in solution for redox flow batteries - enabling scalable, battery-based, long-duration energy storage that is sustainable, globally resilient and highly investable.

Memorify Technologies: Emotionally intelligent memory platform using neuroscience-led AI to automatically document, organise, preserve and resurface life’s most precious moments, bringing joy and connection while safeguarding personal histories for generations to come.

Myonerv: Wearable medical device for monitoring and treating stroke, enabling patients suffering from upper limb paralysis to regain real-time control of their hand.

NANOPLUME: Scaling the manufacture of the world's lightest, thinnest insulating biomaterial, dramatically increasing energy efficiency, space efficiency and circularity.

Polytecks: Cambridge University spin-out pioneering smart textile technology for next-generation healthcare diagnostics; they have developed high-density e-textile electrode arrays that capture bioelectrical signals from the body’s surface with unprecedented resolution and comfort.

Now into its eighth year, the #21toWatch awards are widely recognised as a credible marker of entrepreneurial excellence, identifying the innovators and companies set to define the future. Organised by multi-award-winning technology communications agency, cofinitive [corr] - part of international consulting firm, Cambridge Management Consulting – the programme is designed to identify early-stage companies and technologies with genuine potential to scale and deliver long-term impact, and is supported by premium sponsors from within the renowned Cambridge ecosystem.

Tim Passingham, Chairman, Cambridge Management Consulting, said: “Each year, #21toWatch gives us a vantage point across the region’s most technically ambitious early-stage companies. We are now seeing founders advancing frontier science design companies, not just technologies, and doing so with real-world deployment in mind from day one. This suggests that Cambridge’s next wave of deeptech will not only generate breakthrough science, but sustainable, scalable businesses capable of enduring impact.

“In the last 12 months, we have seen previous #21toWatch winners such as Paragraf, (Top21.2019) raise another $55million, Nu Quantum (Top21.2020) raise a further $60million and Xampla (Top21.2020) raise another $10million and generate significant commercial traction with their Morro [corr] coating. And just last week [25.02.2026], BeyondMath (Top21.2024), closed a $10million Seed extension to expand generative physics research.”

Even last year's cohort (which includes Peter Neurotech, Biotryp Therapeutics and Cellestial Health) is already raising capital and securing grants - bringing the total funding over eight years (excluding this year’s winners, Private Equity funding and previous #21toWatch winner/now unicorn, CMR Surgical) to £721,267,499.

Chris Keen, Partner and Head of Emerging Companies at Mishcon de Reya, one of the awards’ premium sponsors, added: “We work alongside founders every day and on every step of their journey as they turn bold ideas into real world impact. #21toWatch celebrates this entrepreneurial spirit - recognising the individuals pushing boundaries and building the next generation of standout businesses. Supporting this community of innovators is central to what we do, and we’re proud to be part of recognising their achievements.”

To stay informed, follow #21toWatch on all social media platforms, and at https://www.21towatch.com

PRESS CONTACT:

Carole Aye Maung, PR & Media Communications Manager

cayemaung@cambridgemc.com

#21toWatch 2026 Shortlist Showcases Region’s Strength as UK’s Startup Capital

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 14:06:00 GMT

The shortlist for the coveted #21toWatch Awards 2026 has been revealed, showcasing the next generation of standout entrepreneurs and breakthrough innovations from Cambridge and across the East of England. 

The 2026 shortlist reflects a technically rigorous startup community with a strong understanding of real-world problems. While each candidate has a different focus, all are grounded in credible technology, show clear commercial intent and address large-scale challenges spanning healthcare, sustainability, energy, infrastructure and trustworthy AI. 

Highlighted innovations include novel approaches to halt the progression of cancer, tackle the most critical challenges in brain health, improve treatment options for the common yet currently undertreated mental illness, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and turn Organ-on-Chip technology into a transformative reality. 

Also on the list is the world’s lightest, thinnest insulating biomaterial, an emotionally intelligent memory platform, AI models that turn sound into health insights, a social venture focused on enabling trustworthy AI, a solution for tackling the actual cost of climate risk, a drop-in mixture to decarbonise cement and a drop-in solution to increase energy density in redox flow batteries. 

The full short list is detailed in full below: 

This year’s ‘Company’ category is dominated by deeptech and biotech startups with game-changing innovations: from bioelectronic lab-grown organs to advance research capabilities, to phage-based antimicrobials, through to treatments and applications for diverse conditions including cancer, hearing loss, endometriosis and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), a common mental illness for which there are limited treatment options available. Many of these first-of-a-kind technologies are rooted in university research and interdisciplinary engineering. 

The 12 outstanding companies in the running for the seven coveted Top21.2026 Company places are: 

auryx – building AI models that convert sound into health insights, powering heart rate, respiration and advanced cardiovascular monitoring on existing consumer devices, such as the earbuds and devices you already own. Aims to create the world’s best foundation model for turning sound into health insights.   

Cyclana Bio – a team of interdisciplinary scientists merging computational and tissue-level biology to discover a cure for endometriosis by targeting the dark matter of tissue: the extracellular matrix.   

Electra Bio – a startup committed to turning the promise of Organ-on-Chip technology into a transformative reality, empowering innovation through bioelectronic lab-grown organs. By seamlessly blending biology with cutting-edge electronics, Electra Bio aims to revolutionise drug discovery and advance research capabilities, driving progress in science and improving lives.   

FactTrace – building the truth infrastructure for the AI era: a foundation that preserves the integrity of meaning as language moves between people, systems and machines. As societies rely increasingly on AI-generated text and fast-moving information, the ability to verify what has remained true through change will become essential for enterprise, institutional and governmental decision-making.   

Loop52 – circular plastics platform for the automotive industry, creating a scalable system that connects dismantlers, recyclers and OEMs to meet new EU recycled-content regulations for Automotive Plastic Circularity.   

NanoPrint Innovations – specialises in advanced thin-film deposition technology. A startup providing high-speed, vacuum-free deposition systems for industrial and research use, enhancing solar cell efficiency and enabling scalable, cost-effective solar and electronics production.   

Protalea Bio – developing effective treatments that halt the progression of cancer and neurodegeneration, thereby prolonging healthy life. Protalea Bio does this by targeting pre-disease inflammation before the disease has a chance to develop.   

Quadlytics – this patent-pending technology identifies combinations of bacteriophages that work better together to produce efficient phage-based antimicrobials for numerous applications, including in human and animal health, as well as in agriculture.  

RhosynBio – develops innovative antimicrobial surfaces that prevent bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, reducing contamination, corrosion and AMR risk, while enhancing hygiene and sustainability across healthcare, food processing and industrial settings.   

Serenatis Bio – developing three novel drugs to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a common yet poorly treated and devastating mental illness with huge unmet need and commercial opportunity. Each drug has a different mechanism of action – targeting glutamate and dopamine receptors – and uses precision medicine to identify which of the three would best suit individual OCD patients.  

Shuffle Energy – closing the ‘spark gap’ by delivering the software component connecting heat pumps, hot water tanks and e-boiler to energy markets, reducing electric heating costs by 30-60%.   

SomNyx – wants everyone to sleep smarter and dream deeper. Our AI-powered, textile-based sleep wearable will enable clinical-grade sleep monitoring from hospital to home, transforming early diagnostics for several brain disorders.  

The final seven Top21.2026 in the ‘People’ category will be selected from the following 10 standout individuals: 

Aliki Marina Tsopelakou, CLEAR-Methane: Aliki is leading the social venture, CLEAR-Methane at Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge – developing photochemical filtration technologies for ventilation systems, improving indoor air quality while reducing atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, to deliver combined public-health and environmental benefits with significant climate impact.    

Callon Peate, co-founder, GreenMixes: a startup on a mission to build a carbon-negative future with a drop-in cement admixture, delivering the cheapest, most scalable route to fully decarbonising concrete and turning buildings into long-term carbon sinks.   

Gemma Swan, University of Cambridge: Gemma has developed a novel, highly efficient plant transfection mechanism, integrated into a prototype device, with the aim of enabling large-scale protein production in plant systems.   

Joshua Williams, co-founder, Agseer: a startup enabling mixed-species agriculture with AI models for precision robotics. Agseer’s innovative approach to image generation involves populating digitally simulated fields with 3D models of real plants. This method avoids model biases common to synthetic image generation and allows Agseer to develop training datasets that have diversity far exceeding that of real fields.   

Kristina Khutsishvili, researcher in AI Ethics and Public Sector Decision-Making at the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge: Kristina is working on Episteme, a social venture focused on enabling trustworthy AI and aiming to reshape the ways of building and governing algorithmic systems.   

Mehrdad Asgari, postdoctoral researcher, University of Cambridge: Mehrdad is revolutionising the global dye industry through AI-generated and non-toxic molecular designs resulting in less environmental damage and superior colour performance.   

Mila (Mahlaqua) Noor, Gates Cambridge alumna and postdoctoral Bye-Fellow: Mila is investigating cytomegalovirus placental transmission to develop antiviral strategies improving maternal-fetal health.    

Omer Nivron, co-founder, Ötzi: A unique venture is on a mission to tackle one of the finance industry’s biggest blind spots: the actual cost of climate risk. To this end, Ötzi has built the first physics-informed AI model generating risk forecasts out to 2050, which are not only more accurate than the competition but also faster and radically more cost-effective. This isn’t just about better pricing for insurers; it’s about a more resilient future.    

Osarenkhoe Ogbeide, co-leader, Obasense: A startup creating a new form of low-cost, hyper-sensitive sensors using advanced nanomaterials for detecting toxic and dangerous gases and pollutants for multiple areas and industries.    

Sara AlMahri, Cambridge PhD candidate in AI, co-founder, Alphachain AI: This startup is on a mission to transform supply chain sustainability, ethical traceability and visibility – helping companies, governments and investment funds turn supply chain data into strategic intelligence. The AI model uncovers hidden risks, maps complex multi-tier networks and identifies high-impact opportunities, enabling decision-makers to act with speed, precision and foresight, unlocking value where others see blind spots.  

Lastly, the ‘Things’ category highlights technologies and innovations with the potential to underpin new industries or significantly disrupt existing ones. The seven Top21.2026 ‘Things’ will be selected from the following 10 game-changing innovations from the respective companies: 

Cambridge Atomworks: Nuclear fission micro-reactor providing reliable power to replace diesel for energy intensive local power requirements in off-grid situations such as mining and remote communities.  

Eleon: Scaling the seamless integration of advanced electronics into fabrics – with solutions tailored to help brands and textile manufacturers elevate their textile products to the next level, empowering industries to create outstanding products that are smarter, safer and more connected than ever before.   

HotHouse Therapeutics: Rewriting the future of drug discovery with BotanAI and BotanBio – AI and plant bioengineering platforms that design and make molecules no other laboratories can reach.   

Kodiaq Technologies: Pioneering a drop-in solution for redox flow batteries – enabling scalable, battery-based, long-duration energy storage that is sustainable, globally resilient and highly investable.  

Memorify: Emotionally intelligent memory platform using neuroscience-led AI to automatically document, organise, preserve and resurface life’s most precious moments, bringing joy and connection while safeguarding personal histories for generations to come.   

Myonerv: Wearable medical device for monitoring and treating stroke, enabling patients suffering from upper limb paralysis to regain real-time control of their hand.   

NANOPLUME: Scaling the manufacture of the world’s lightest, thinnest insulating biomaterial, dramatically increasing energy efficiency, space efficiency and circularity.   

Polytecks: Cambridge University spin-out pioneering smart textile technology for next-generation healthcare diagnostics; they have developed high-density e-textile electrode arrays that capture bioelectrical signals from the body’s surface with unprecedented resolution and comfort.   

Sqwish: Helping businesses use AI more efficiently. Its first tool is an API that makes AI inputs smaller (up to 90%) so responses are faster and costs lower, without losing quality.   

Zyvex: Created entirely from Food Standards Agency (FSA)-approved materials, Zyvex® antimicrobial is a breakthrough in food safety. 100% organic, completely food-safe and edible, it significantly reduces the presence of all FSA-listed food-borne bacteria including Listeria – and is also environmentally friendly and carbon negative.  

Now into its eighth year, #21toWatch is organised by multi-award-winning technology communications agency, cofinitive, a Cambridge Management Consulting company.   

Tim Passingham, chairman, Cambridge Management Consulting, said: “This year’s shortlist includes a notable number of early-stage startups founded in 2024 or 2025, including one, FactTrace, which only emerged from stealth this year. #21toWatch’s purpose is to shine a light on genuinely emerging talent, reaffirming Cambridge’s position as the UK’s dynamic startup capital.”  

Each of the candidates on the shortlist are assessed by an independent judging panel against five strict criteria: innovation, the ability to address a real challenge, influence, viability, and memorability. 

The judges for 2026 are (listed alphabetically): 

Samantha Graham, Enterprise Network Manager at Norwich Research Park   

Tasneem Khatib, Cambridge Chapter Lead at CAMentrepreneurs, which was created to support and inspire business and social entrepreneurship among Cambridge University alumni, current students and others.    

Simon Thorpe, an active angel investor at Cambridge Angels, with a focus on the technology.

Super-connector, Amy Weatherup, i-Teams programme director and Co-Chair at Cambridge Angels 

With judging already underway, Tasneem said: “This year’s #21toWatch shortlist is an impressive and exciting showcase of the depth and diversity of innovation coming out of the region. The quality of the ideas, together with the energy, ambition and expertise behind them, really stood out – a real pleasure to judge!” 

In addition to the sponsors and partners supporting #21toWatch, this year’s ceremony is set to enter a new phase thanks to three premium sponsors supporting the event, which includes legal firm, Birketts.  

Partner, Maria Peyman said: “Cambridge and the East of England are truly raising the bar when it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship, and these awards celebrate and recognise the people, companies and creations that are achieving great things. Having been involved with #21toWatch since the first year in 2019, we have seen first-hand the high standard of those ventures and opportunities who make the annual list and are excited to play a role in highlighting this year’s listings and winners in the coming months.”   

The Top21.2026 will be announced at an exclusive ceremony on Thursday 5 March 2026 at The Glasshouse in Cambridge. To stay informed, you can follow #21toWatch on all social media platforms, and at https://www.21towatch.com 

The post #21toWatch 2026 Shortlist Showcases Region’s Strength as UK’s Startup Capital appeared first on 21toWatch .

Marks & Clerk, Mishcon de Reya and Birketts Announced as Headline Sponsors of #21toWatch 2026

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 08:31:00 GMT

The highly anticipated annual #21toWatch innovation awards are ramping up as submissions continue to flow in from the most enterprising people, companies and inventions from Cambridge and across the East of England.

Now owned and run by international consulting firm, Cambridge Management Consulting following the acquisition of cofinitive at the start of this year, there are some exciting enhancements to the structure of the programme as it enters its eighth year.

The Cambridge-headquartered company, which is committed to helping organisations of all sizes make a better impact on the world, joins an impressive roster of returning sponsors – many of whom have supported the Awards since its inception in 2017.

Tim Passingham, Chair, Cambridge Management Consulting, commented: “#21toWatch is about more than just recognition. It’s about momentum: spotlighting not just who’s doing remarkable work today but equally those who are quietly laying the groundwork for what’s coming next.”

“We now have an opportunity to transform the spotlight into a platform for the benefit of the whole Cambridge ecosystem – one that propels founders, technologists and change-makers at the earliest and most critical stages of their journey.”

Starting this year, three sponsors – Marks & Clerk, Mishcon de Reya and Birketts – take on a premium level of involvement, further demonstrating their commitment to the startup ecosystem.

Matt Pinney, Office Managing Partner at Marks & Clerk told us: “We are delighted to continue our support of #21towatch. This initiative is close to our hearts – it celebrates the remarkable talent and innovation that make Cambridge and the surrounding areas such a unique and inspiring place to work and grow for tech companies.

“Through our ongoing involvement with #21towatch, we’ve seen how this recognition can be a real catalyst for early-stage businesses – helping founders gain visibility, attract investment, and build meaningful partnerships. Our decision to become a premium sponsor reflects our commitment to supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators in the local area.

“At Marks & Clerk, we’re proud of the role our Cambridge team plays in helping start-ups and scale-ups protect and shape their intellectual property. We work closely with founders to strategically build commercially valuable IP portfolios.

“We look forward to engaging with the #21towatch nominees and witnessing their future achievements as they transform their ideas into success stories.”

Returning long-time sponsors are Alan Boswell Group, Appleyard Lees, Ashtons Legal, BDO, Foresight Group, HSBC Innovation Banking, Keltie, pem, Penningtons Manches Cooper and St John’s Innovation Centre, with partners like Tech East ensuring contribution from across the region.

Rachel Bradley, partner, Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP, who has supported the programme since its beginnings, said: “Supporting #21toWatch aligns perfectly with our firm’s values. We work with ambitious innovators every day, and this platform helps shine a light on those often operating under the radar. It’s exciting to see the ripple effects of being named in the Top21, and how that visibility can unlock new doors.”

#21toWatch creator Faye Holland, added: “The Cambridge ecosystem is unlike any other, boasting an unparalleled collaboration between academia, business and visionary thinkers. My goal was always to embed #21toWatch in this unique community whilst broadening its lens – to support those operating at the edge of what’s possible and to tell their stories loudly so that the rest of the world can catch on.

“#21toWatch continues to ensure the right people are seen, supported and celebrated along the way – and, needless to say, the continued support of our event sponsors is invaluable.”

Nominations and submissions for #21toWatch 2026 are now open at https://www.21towatch.com , with entries closing on January 9th, 2026. Follow the conversation and stay updated via #21toWatch on social media.

The #21toWatch shortlist will be announced on Wednesday, February 4th, 2026, and the highly anticipated Top21, judged by four independent judges, will be unveiled during the exclusive awards ceremony on Thursday, March 5th, 2026.

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2026 Nominations Window Opens for #21toWatch Innovation Awards: “Celebrating What’s New and Amplifying What’s Next”

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 07:23:00 GMT

We are delighted to announce that the 2026 nominations/applications window for the #21toWatch innovation awards is now open.

Now into its 8 ^th year, the 2026 awards promise to be as inspiring and catalytic as ever judging by calibre of the early entries. These include Omer Nivron , an associate researcher at the University of Cambridge, and startups HotHouse Therapeutics and Kodiaq Technologies:

Each of these entrants brings together science-based intelligence with technology:

Omer has been nominated in the ‘People’ category for his outstanding work on artificial intelligence (AI) for climate risk. As the co-founder of Ötzi, he is focused on tackling one of the finance industry’s biggest blind spots: the actual cost of climate risk.

Omer says: “We’ve built the first physics-informed AI model generating risk forecasts out to 2050, which are not only more accurate than the competition but also faster and radically more cost-effective. For me, this isn’t just about better pricing for insurers; it’s about a more resilient future – and that’s the social impact that drives this mission.” 

Nominated in the ‘Company’ category, HotHouse Therapeutics is a unique plug-and-play platform company currently deploying into adjuvants and disrupting the vaccine industry with its AI-driven, carbon-positive drug discovery and plant-based engineering.

Working at the intersection of technology and nature, the company uses AI to optimise the plants before creating novel molecules and hard-to-source adjuvants – delivering breakthrough medicines and next-generation therapeutics sustainably and at scale with world class expertise.

With an eye on the planet as well as on patients, HotHouse Therapeutics’ eco-friendly production ensures a resilient, long-term supply of these scarce, in-demand complex compounds, without stripping trees or the ecosystem.

CEO Dr David Sheppard told us: “HotHouse Therapeutics has been in stealth mode since its launch in July 2024 and now seems the perfect time to appear on the #21toWatch list as we exit stealth and embark on our next funding round.”

Kodiaq Technologies , meanwhile, is revolutionising energy storage with cutting-edge metal-free electrolytes. Nominated in the ‘Thing’ category, these organic electrolytes are designed to enhance the efficiency, sustainability and reliability of long duration energy storage technologies.

The game-changing technology has been invented by co-founders Professor Oren Scherman, Director of the Melville Lab at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Kamil Sokolowski, CTO at Kodiaq and expert in electron transfer and energy storage technologies. A third co-founder and Executive Chairman at Kodiaq, Dr David Fyfe – a recipient of Institute of Physics Gold Medal – is the former executive chair of Cambridge Display Technology, which listed on Nasdaq in 2004 before it was acquired by Sumitomo Chemical in 2007 for approximately $285million.

Dr Fyfe said: “ Kodiaq Technologies is developing for commercialisation metal-free organic chemistries for redox flow batteries – that is, electrolytes with significantly higher energy density than the current technology, vanadium. This substantially enhances the return on investment in energy storage and, in turn, makes wind and solar investments more attractive.”

#21toWatch creator, Faye Holland, now Managing Partner at Cambridge Management Consulting, said: “#21toWatch is not just about celebrating what’s new, it’s about amplifying what’s next. Each year, #21towatch proves that innovation isn’t confined to big cities or established players, it comes from unexpected places, from individuals and teams willing to think differently.

“For 2026, we’re not just spotlighting innovation; we’re demonstrating that visibility and recognition are essential catalysts for growth in our region and beyond.”

#21toWatch is a dedicated campaign to showcase, highlight and recognise the best of entrepreneurship across Cambridge and the East of England, celebrating seven standout people, seven companies and seven innovations every year. Past winners include Riverlane, Unitary, VividQ, Paragraf, Broken Strong BioSciences, Xampla, Sano Genetics, SATAVIA, CMR Surgical, Colorifix, Flusso, Porotech, Cambridge Gan Devices and DioSynVax.

You can make your nomination or submission for #21toWatch and find out more about the programme at  https://www.21towatch.com/ and by following #21toWatch on social media.

Closing date for submissions is 9 ^th January 2026, and the shortlist will be announced in February. A panel of independent judges will determine the Top21 who will be unveiled at the annual awards event on 5 ^th March 2026.

The post 2026 Nominations Window Opens for #21toWatch Innovation Awards: “Celebrating What’s New and Amplifying What’s Next” appeared first on 21toWatch .

Biotech dominates at 2025 #21toWatch Awards with winners focused on remedying persisting medical challenges

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 18:38:00 GMT

The #21toWatch Top21.2025 winners have been announced at an inspirational awards ceremony at The Glasshouse innovation hub in Cambridge.

The 7th annual Awards – which spotlight the Top21 standout individuals, game-changing companies, and world-leading innovations from across Cambridge and the East of England – are regarded as a reliable, early indicator of the NextGen innovators set to impact and improve our world and future.

This year, the Top21 list is dominated by neuroscientists and medical physicists, all making extraordinary progress with early diagnostics, precision and regenerative medicines, and novel treatment strategies for persisting medical challenges, including neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

Neurodegenerative diseases – such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease (MND) and Huntingdon’s – affect more than 50 million people worldwide and are now the leading cause of death for both men and women in the UK.

In response, venture capital investment in biotech on a global scale surged to £6.96 billion in Q3 2024, a 90.2% increase on the previous year* – with the UK emerging as the top performer in Europe, attracting £536 million.

The 2025 Top21 list was also peppered with an eclectic mix of ‘world firsts’, including a new approach to spectral imaging, a pioneering ‘adaptive focus’ technology for VR and AR, and a first-of-its-kind zero-emissions cement. All the innovations have been designed with a bright, net zero future front of mind.

The seven Top21 2025 ‘People’ winners are:

Arkoprovo Paul: co-founder of Cambridge-based biotech firm, Oltera, who is working on stem cell models of neurodegenerative conditions to discover potential therapeutic strategies.
Austin Reed: founder and CEO of IntercepTx, who is revolutionising the treatment of cancer with pioneering early intervention tools and novel therapies to intercept tumours before they develop.
Dr. Ethan Waisberg: Academic Foundation Programme Doctor at the University of Cambridge, and member of NASA’s Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Working Group. Ethan uses generative AI technology to ensure eye disease progression is better tracked, and currently leads AngioGenius, a startup developing an app for home eye disease detection.
Jonathan Fisher: founder of Peter, a device initially developed for his father to help him – and millions of others with Parkinson’s Disease – regain their mobility and walk confidently again
Lucy Jung: founder of LYEONS Neurotech, Lucy is specialising in innovating life-enhancing solutions for people with long-term medical and neurological conditions, and advancing brain health innovations globally.
Ping Lin Yeap: A Gates Cambridge Scholar at the University of Cambridge, Ping Lin’s research work, combining Medical Physics with AI, is set to revolutionise adaptive radiotherapy workflows in clinical settings and advance personalised cancer treatment and precision medicine.
Raifa Al Maamari: Raifa’s pioneering research in energy policy contributes to developing low-carbon hydrogen value chains in the GCC region—a sustainable focus that’s driving innovations in Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.

The seven Top21 2025 ‘Innovations’ winners are:

AllFocal Optics is set to revolutionize AR/VR technology with its groundbreaking nanophotonic solutions. Rooted in foundational research from Cambridge University, they deliver unparalleled visual experiences with adaptive focus, while prioritizing compatibility and scalability.
Lamba Agri has developed a low-cost, highly scalable spray coating for greenhouse panels that runs on natural sunlight. It converts unused ultraviolet light to red light, increasing crop yield by 20% and displacing 1.3mt CO2e by 2050.
Prospectral has designed a new approach to spectral imaging and is building a technology to empower companies with dramatically lower-cost, more compact, and less complex cameras for gathering the data required to detect and analyse materials.
FinCrime Dynamics helps its clients build better defences against financial crime by translating financial crime intelligence into data resources with their simulation and synthetic data engine, Synthetizor®.
Reclinker (previously known as Cambridge Electric Cement) has invented the world’s first zero-emissions cement. The new cement is made in a virtuous recycling loop that eliminates the emissions of cement production, saves raw materials, and reduces the emissions needed to make lime-flux.
VyperCore’s unprecedented technology offers up to 80% power reduction, with five-fold, memory safe, acceleration of future datacentre server class managed-language applications across a vast spectrum of industries.
Wave Photonics: Integrated photonics is used for energy-efficient communications for AI and data centres, rapid diagnostic tools, on-chip lidar, and quantum technologies. Wave Photonics is building design technology to enable and accelerate the development, mass production and adoption of this technology.

The seven Top21 2025 ‘Company’ winners are:

Bioscopic – This groundbreaking biotech startup is tapping into an unexpected source of medical innovation: beneficial bacteria found in infants. These tiny microbes play a crucial role in developing a healthy immune system and fighting diseases from the earliest stages of life.
BioTryp Therapeutics – Bacteria form protective communities called biofilms, where they thrive, and treatments fail. BioTryp Therapeutics is developing novel anti-biofilm therapies to revolutionise how we treat infections, starting with urinary tract infections.
Cellestial Health – This pharmacological discovery company is working to stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease from the time of diagnosis, by protecting the neglected half of the brain composed of astrocytes.
clock.bio aims to extend and improve quality of life by reversing the harmful effects of time in our cells, harnessing the regenerative capabilities of human pluripotent stem cells.
Evoralis – This pioneering enzyme technology breaks down textiles and plastics into reusable building blocks, transforming polyester, nylon, tough blended fibres and more, accelerating a truly circular economy.
Nanomation – Patented technology makes it possible for the semiconductor industry to manufacture with nanomaterials for the first time, paving the way for faster, more powerful, and more efficient chips.
TRIMTECH Therapeutics – Neurodegenerative diseases, which include Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s, are caused by protein aggregation inside cells. TRIMTECH’s unique technology targets and degrades aggregated proteins, without affecting non-aggregated forms, offering a solution that is both potent and offers outstanding safety.

#21toWatch Founder, Faye Holland said: “The calibre of this year’s Top21 has not disappointed We are now witnessing logical sci-fi ideas from decades ago being turned into reality, and it’s very, very exciting. I look forward to hearing about them closing lucrative funding rounds soon!

“Since #21toWatch began, our 126 hugely valued winners have, between them, now raised a staggering £614,054,499 (not including CMR Surgical, undisclosed and private equity deals) – of which £183,199,400 was raised in the last year alone. This is a huge single-year increase which represents 42% of the amount raised over the first six years of the programme!

“Notable examples of raises from March 2024 to February 2025 include Top21 winner in 2020 Riverlane securing £57million; Top21 winner in 2021 Echion Technologies securing £29million, Top21winner in 2022, Cambridge Gan Devices (CGD) securing £25million in 2022; Top21 winner also in 20222 Forefront RF securing £16million; and Top21 winner last year in 2024 Expression Edits securing £13million.

“But it’s not just about the big figures. Over the last year, another 20 of our Top21 winners have secured the funding needed to take them to the next level – including Abselion (Top21 2022, £6.6m); Deep Form (Top21 2022, £2.5m); Hutan Bio (Top 21 2023, £3m), and Beyond Math (Top 21 2024, £6.5m).

“It’s hugely reassuring to know that, while things may still continue to be challenging for startups, investors do follow our lists – and investments are being made for the most promising innovations. Congratulations to all our winners!”

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#21toWatch 2025 shortlist announced

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 12:46:00 GMT

The 2025 shortlist for next month’s coveted #21toWatch Awards has been announced, once again spotlighting some of the most inspirational entrepreneurs and game-changing innovations from Cambridge and across the East of England.

From low-carbon hydrogen solutions to zero-emissions cement, halting the progression of Parkinson’s disease to intercepting cancer tumours before they form, and harnessing the regenerative capabilities of human stem cells to reprogramming immune cells as living drugs, this year’s eclectic shortlist reads like a ‘Brave New World’, offering a peak into a future which is net zero, and where medical treatments are personalised, non-invasive and impactful to combat our worst challenges.

The final seven Top21.2025 People will be selected from the following 11 remarkable individuals:

Dr Anna-Maria Kypraiou – Founder of Eyesea Green Ltd, Dr Kypraiou is at the forefront of developing technologies aimed at reducing carbon emissions while enhancing living standards.
Arkoprovo Paul (Arko) – Stem Cell/Neuroscientist and co-founder of biotech company, Oltera, which is focused on reprogramming immune cells as living drugs.
Austin Reed – founder and CEO of IntercepTx, which is working to revolutionise cancer treatment by developing tools to enable cancer prevention therapies – intercepting tumours before they form.
Dr Ethan Waisberg – Academic Foundation Programme Doctor at the University of Cambridge, and Member of NASA’s Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Working Group. His lifelong goal is to improve quality of life through vision research and clinical ophthalmology. His research has led to significant developments in the understanding of Spaceflight Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS), a condition that affects nearly 75% of astronauts.
Georgina Leadley – Winner of the 2024 Female Founder’s Prize, Georgina is a PhD student at Cambridge University, researching non-invasive brain imaging for newborns using NIRS and DOT. Her startup SLICE aims to use ultrasound technology to create pioneering ice-crushing tools for transplant surgeons.
Jiayin Hong – Research Associate at University of Cambridge, specializing in precision epigenetics to provide efficient cellular reprogramming solutions, offering customized cells for research, therapeutic, and regenerative medicine.
Jonathan Fisher – shortlisted for the 2024 James Dyson Award for his wearable biomedical device, Peter, initially designed to help his father and millions of others with Parkinson’s disease regain their mobility and walk confidently again.
Lucy Jung – Medtech entrepreneur on a mission to help others less fortunate. Co-founder of Charco Neurotech (non-invasive wearable device to improve the lives of those with Parkinsons) and Lyeons Neurotech, which is developing non-invasive solutions to support people with anxiety, depression and sleep disorders caused by neurological conditions.
Luke Cullen – Founder of Just Decarbonise, a platform for automating carbon emissions estimates in supply chains.
Ping Lin Yeap – medical physicist, whose research work has the potential to revolutionise adaptive radiotherapy workflows in clinical settings and contribute to the advancement of personalised cancer treatment and precision medicine.
Raifa Al Maamari – whose research work focuses on the policies and economics of implementing low-carbon hydrogen energy in the GCC countries in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the 12 outstanding companies in the running for the seven Top21.2025 Company places are:

Alceus Bio – pioneering the first class of multimodal CAR T therapies, targeting solid cancers in multiple ways to prevent cancer resistance and improve therapeutic outcomes.
Bioscopic – a groundbreaking biotech startup that is tapping into an unexpected source of medical innovation: beneficial bacteria found in infants. These tiny microbes play a crucial role in developing a healthy immune system and fighting diseases from the earliest stages of life.
BioTryp Therapeutics – is developing novel anti-biofilm therapies to revolutionise how we treat infections, starting with urinary tract infections.
Cellestial Health – pharmacological discovery company protecting the neglected half of the brain composed of astrocytes – to stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease from the time of diagnosis.
clock.bio – clock.bio aims to extend and improve quality of life by reversing the harmful effects of time in our cells, harnessing the regenerative capabilities of human pluripotent stem cells.
Evoralis – pioneers enzyme technology to break down textiles and plastics into reusable building blocks, transforming polyester, nylon and even tough, blended fibres, accelerating a truly circular economy.
Infiniti Recycling Ltd – is building the world’s first carbon-negative closed-loop battery recycling system, creating low-impact active materials for new batteries from waste streams
Nanomation – patented technology makes it possible for the semiconductor industry to manufacture with nanomaterials for the first time, paving the way for faster, more powerful, and more efficient chips .
Nanoprint Innovations – specializes in advanced thin-film deposition technology. They provide high-speed, vacuum-free deposition systems for industrial and research use, enhancing solar cell efficiency and enabling scalable, cost-effective solar and electronics production.
Outsee – deeptech bio company exploiting an innovative computational approach to genomics for drug target discovery and precision medicine. They extracting value from genomics datasets beyond the state-of-the-art.
TRIMTECH Therapeutics -TRIMTECH’s unique technology targets and degrades aggregated proteins, without affecting non-aggregated forms, offering a solution that is both potent and offers outstanding safety in the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s.
Trismik – is focused on solving a key challenge: to efficiently and effectively test Large Language Models (LLMs) to ensure they behave as expected, accurately, without hallucination, and aligned with societal values.

Lastly, the seven Top21.2025 ‘Things’ will be selected from the following 11 game-changing innovations:

AllFocal Optics – this pioneering technology delivers adaptive focus and unparalleled visual experiences, combating the nausea and dizziness associated with VR and AR, making digital images accessible to everyone, including those with vision impairments.
HEAVENS – Ethicronics’ flagship software solution provides fabless companies enhanced protection against compromised and counterfeit hardware. The software delivers 100% assurance of the integrity and authenticity of circuitry, from the full product all the way down to nanometer scale.
iBoxit – offers sustainable and carbon-negative packaging and logistical solutions, made entirely from natural and waste materials
Journey Lens – More than just smart glasses, Journey Lens is a fitness tracker for your focus – using biosensors to monitor your attention and help you stay in control.
Lamda Agri has developed a low-cost, highly scalable spray coating for greenhouse panels that runs on natural sunlight. It converts unused ultraviolet light to red light, increasing food production by 20% and displacing 1.3mt CO2e by 2050.
Prospectral – a new approach to spectral imaging. Prospectral is building a technology to empower companies with dramatically lower-cost, more compact, and less complex cameras for gathering the data required to detect and analyse materials.
Reclinker (previously known as Cambridge Electric Cement ) The world’s first zero-emissions cement has been invented in Cambridge. The new cement is made in a virtuous recycling loop that eliminates the emissions of cement production, saves raw materials, and reduces the emissions needed to make lime-flux.
Supersense Technologies – an at-home monitoring service that protects the privacy and independence for people with dementia while making caring easier for families.
Synthetizor ® – a simulation and synthetic data engine that builds better defences against financial crime by translating financial crime intelligence into data resources.
VyperCore – significantly accelerates existing high-performance compute-intensive workloads by a factor of up to 5x, whilst blocking out the highest risk technical cyber-attack vectors at gate-level within the processor – and all without having to change a line of the original code.
Wave Photonics – is breaking into the quantum economy with deeptech chips based on a fibre-optic design. A client-friendly reuseable turnkey solution with a raft of applications.

Each of the names on the shortlist will be assessed by an independent judging panel who, for 2025, are:

Chris Ellis , Scaleup Director, Innovate UK Business Growth. Chris supports founders and leaderships teams with a sector-agnostic remit to drive growth and scale through ‘innovation exploitation’.
Christine Martin , Head of Ventures at Cambridge Enterprise and a respected scientist.
Jo Slota-Newson , Managing Partner at Almanac Ventures – an early-stage deeptech venture capital investor with a focus on decarbonisation.
Tom Hughes , an experienced early stage investor and advisor, and mentor at Trinity College Cambridge.

Each of the shortlisted candidates will be judged against five strict criteria: innovation, the ability to address a real challenge, influence, viability, and memorability.

Chris Ellis said: “Having worked in Cambridge for over 30 years, I have been privileged to share the journeys of many innovators, entrepreneurs, disruptors, and risk takers. I think that’s why I have never left the region. This year’s #21toWatch candidates are proof, if needed, that the well is far from dry. It’s a thrill to be judging the 2025 submissions, and I wish all the people, companies and ‘things’ the best of luck in their respective sectors. I will be watching with vested interest.”

Tom Hughes added: “This year’s entries prove that the chillier climate for startups hasn’t stymied the flow of promising ideas and businesses. The variety and depth of the finalists showcases the intellectual capability of Cambridge and the East of England which makes it attractive despite any dip in sentiment.”

#21toWatch is organised each year by award-winning technology PR and communications agency, cofinitive – a Cambridge Management Consulting (Cambridge MC) company – and supported by the Cambridge Independent.

Faye Holland, creator of #21toWatch and Managing Partner at Cambridge MC, said: “Two of our Top21 from several years ago also featured last month in The Times and Sunday Times: ‘Ones to Watch’ in the ‘100 fastest-growing tech companies in Britain’ list – which shows that we know what we are doing and are always ahead of the game providing an independent platform to showcase the next round of startups. The people, companies and innovations on this list are the future, and the future is looking very bright.”

The Top21.2025 will be announced at an exclusive ceremony on Thursday 6 ^th March 2025 at The Glasshouse in Cambridge. To stay informed, follow #21toWatch on all social media platforms, and at 21toWatch.com.

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#21toWatch 2025: New Sponsors Announced as Innovation Showcase Excels

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 08:32:00 GMT

Insurance specialists, Alan Boswell Group joins accountancy/ business advisors, BDO UK LLP and Peters Elworthy & Moore (PEM) in supporting for the very first time as #21toWatch, now in its 7 ^th year, continues to grow in impact and credibility.

All three businesses are uniting to celebrate extraordinary people, companies and the best of Cambridgeshire innovation at the award ceremony, which takes place on 6 March 2025

Paul Hughes, BDO UK LLP’s Managing Director, Life Sciences & Technology, says their involvement was fuelled by having a unique perspective.

He says: “I was able to experience firsthand the impact that the programme has on its winners while I was I was working at BIOS when they were named #21toWatch winners in 2019. The exposure they received as a result was extremely impressive. And so, when I joined BDO, it was a no-brainer to get the company more actively involved.”

The continued support of the event sponsors is invaluable according to #21toWatch founder, Faye Holland. Returning longtime sponsors include Appleyard Lees, Ashtons Legal, Bailey Fisher, Birketts, CPCA Growth Hub, Foresight, HSBC Innovation Banking, Keltie, Marks & Clerk, Mischon de Reya, Penningtons Manches Cooper, and St Johns Innovation Centre.

Faye says: “Cambridge is the UK’s epicentre for science, tech and innovation – and that makes our ecosystem invaluable across the UK as well as to the rest of the world. Many of our amazing innovators wouldn’t be able to exit, never mind grow, without that essential sponsor support. The same goes for #21toWatch, which is now widely regarded as one of the best early indicators for future gamechangers.”

Early nominations in the people category include Lucy Jung, co-founder of Medtech firm, Charco Neurotech and Raifa Al Maamari, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Land Economy.

A previous 2023 Top21 winner in the People category, Lucy has been nominated for a second time for the work she’s doing with a new company. LYEONS [corr], an early-stage neurotech venture, is focused on developing innovative solutions using sensory modulation technology to recalibrate the autonomic nervous system. The promising research project adopts a holistic approach, combining hardware devices with community support and research-backed interventions, and aims to enhance the quality of life for neuro-diverse individuals struggling with anxiety, trauma and sleep disorders

Meanwhile Raifa’s pioneering research in energy policy is driving low-carbon hydrogen value chains in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region—a sustainable focus that’s setting new standards in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

Two further contenders in the Company category include semiconductor software startup, Nanomation and trailblazing biotech, LinkGevity.

Nanomation’s patented technology makes it possible for the semiconductor industry to manufacture with nanomaterials for the very first time, paving the way for faster, more powerful, and more efficient chips.

LinkGevity works at the intersection of AI and longevity, utilizing a proprietary Blueprint Theory of Aging to map the key pathways driving aging and deterioration. Its flagship therapeutic earned a spot in the prestigious NASA/Microsoft Space-H Program, showcasing its groundbreaking potential for health on Earth as well as in space.

NoBACZ is a wound care company specialising in sustainable, rapid-setting liquid barrier dressings. It has a novel, patent-protected solution to improve care, reduce waste and enhance sustainability, which are the main issues surrounding both human and veterinary wound care.

The #21toWatch longlists are updated on a rolling basis, with the nomination window open until noon Friday 10th January (2025). To nominate, or see the full lists of People, Companies and Things go to https://www.21toWatch.com/

The shortlist will be announced on Wednesday 5 February (2025), with the annual #21toWatch Top21 unveiled in an exclusive awards ceremony on Thursday 6 March 2025.

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#21toWatch Alumni praise Awards for providing “pivotal kickstart” as nomination window opens for 2025

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 10:01:00 GMT

As the nomination window opens for #21toWatch 2025, former winners have applauded the Innovation Awards for the invaluable kickstart it provides to our entrepreneurs and startups.

One of the first ever Top21 winners in the Company category was quantum error correction technology company, Riverlane . COO Bek Simmons, told us: “Riverlane was thrilled to be named as a #21toWatch Top21 company in 2020. And while our mission – to make quantum computing useful far sooner than previously imaginable – remains unchanged, the company has scaled rapidly from that moment. The following year, we secured $20 million in Series A funding, and then raised a further £15 million in Series B funding in 2022. And, in 2024, we’ve been celebrating further after raising $75 million in a landmark Series C equity funding round, Europe’s first Series C in quantum computing. Along the way we’ve recruited over 100 people and now have offices on both sides of the pond – in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the US, as well as in our founding city, Cambridge, UK.”

Bek continued: “The #21toWatch Awards are a great and much-needed facilitator for our start-ups and are more than just a well-earned pat on the back. They give validity, credibility and visibility to the groundbreaking work you are doing – but also spotlight your company name and integrity to all-important investors, media outlets and potential collaborators. But, perhaps most importantly, they build morale and make the team proud, getting everyone excited about the journey ahead.”

Last year, HutanBio was another Top21 winner with its low-cost, carbon-negative biofuel, HBx, a one-in-a-trillion discovery which is now set to disrupt and transform an entire transportation industry, and crucially decarbonise long-distance transport.

Winning the award kicked off a pivotal year for the biotech company according to CEO, Paul Beastall. He told us: “We were delighted to be selected as one of the #21toWatch companies in 2023, and to be associated with an award alongside so many very successful alumni.

“The award has helped us to raise our profile in the Cambridge ecosystem and, since winning, we have gone on to raise over £3million in seed funding, opened our UK offices at St John’s Innovation Centre and built our engineering team in Cambridge. We will be deploying our first-generation engineering into the field in Malaysia by the end of this year.”

Other companies closing the largest tech funding rounds in Cambridge this year [2024] according to a report by Dealrom.co included Sano Genetics (2022 winner), who are accelerating precision medicine research by connecting patients living with rare and chronic conditions directly with biotech/pharma companies leading personalised medicine research, who raised $11.4 million in January. And Xampla (2021 winner), who are eliminating the need for polluting plastics with their sustainable, fully biodegradable, next-generation, plant-based materials for commercial applications, who raised $7million in February. Since then Echion Technologies (2021 winner) have raised £29 million in investment capital, and 2024 winner, ExpressionEdits have raised $13 million.

Submissions for the 7 ^th annual #21toWatch Innovation Awards next March [2025] have already started arriving.

An early contender in the People category is University of Cambridge PhD student, Georgina Leadley who is focused on tackling real world problems with medical technology. She is currently conducting highly specialised research into non-invasive brain imaging using NIRS and DOT for applications in newborns with brain injuries and people with Alzheimer’s.

Earlier this year, Georgina was the winner of the inaugural Female Founder’s Prize, part of The Lucy Cavendish College Enterprise Challenge 2024, for another startup venture, SLICE, which aims to develop a portable, automated device relying on ultrasound technology to create sterile crushed ice for organ transplant procedures.

Biotryp Therapeutics is another standout submission in the Company category. The innovative biotech startup aims to develop the first antibiofilm therapy for bacterial infections, with an initial focus on UTIs. Biofilms are associated with treatment failure and recurrent infections (as commonly seen in UTIs), and currently there are no antibiofilm oral therapies in clinical use. Instead, current therapies have to rely exclusively on antibiotics which struggle to penetrate biofilms. To remedy this, Biotryp has developed a class of small molecules which inhibit biofilm formation, breaking down these protective layers of a bacteria’s defences, and nipping the infection in the bud.

Another hopeful in the Innovation (Things) category is VyperCore with an exciting submission centring on its ground-breaking processor technology. VyperCore significantly accelerates existing high-performance compute-intensive workloads by a factor of up to 10x, whilst blocking out the highest risk technical cyber-attack vectors at gate-level within the processor, and all without having to change a line of the original code.

In April 2023, the processor startup raised £4million in seed funding (at the time the largest pre-seed round for a UK chip startup in a decade), which has been used to open design centres here in Cambridge and in Bristol, and to develop VyperCore’s first generation of accelerated compute silicon.

To date, there have been 1736 contenders for a #21toWatch title over the last six years, raising, between them, a total of £525million in investments and funding. This figure does not include companies, private acquisitions, private equity or undisclosed amounts – and also excludes 2019 #21toWatch winner, CMR Surgical, the Cambridge-based surgical robotics company, whose investment alone would push the total to over $1bn in funding.

#21toWatch creator, Faye Holland said: “The true value of #21toWatch lies in its ability to recognize and amplify groundbreaking ideas, as so many of our winners have already discovered.

“Our Awards validate the risks taken by inventive minds, celebrate the boldness of those able to turn challenges into opportunities, and fuel the drive for continuous advancement in every field. By recognizing groundbreaking ideas and those who dare to think differently, we aim to inspire the innovators of tomorrow and encourage a future where innovation is not just rewarded but expected, fostering a cycle of progress that benefits us all.”

Closing date for submissions noon on Friday 10th January 2025 and the shortlist will be announced in Wednesday 5 ^th February 2025. A panel of independent judges will determine the Top21 who will be unveiled at the annual awards event held at the Innovate Cambridge Hub on Thursday 6th March 2025.

You can make your nomination or submission for #21toWatch and find out more about the programme at 21toWatch.com and by following #21toWatch on social media.

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Medical innovations, Sustainability, Agritech and AI dominate #21toWatch 2024 Awards

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 19:07:00 GMT

The 6 ^th annual #21toWatch innovation awards have been unveiled at an awards ceremony at The Bradfield Centre in Cambridge, the UK Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation.

The annual Awards – which highlight the Top21 standout individuals, game-changing companies, and world-leading innovations from across Cambridge and the East of England – are widely relied upon to be an early indication of the NextGen innovators set to make a considerable contribution to a better world and future.

Since its beginnings in 2018, #21toWatch alumni have included startups which have grown into world leading companies such as CMR Surgical, Riverlane, Paragraf, Flusso, Colorifix, Unitary, VividQ, Broken String BioSciences, Xampla, Sano Genetics, SATAVIA, Porotech and Cambridge Gan Devices – and the total amount of investment in #21toWatch alumni and British entrepreneurship now tops £1.036 billion (£1,036,508,387) to date. (This figure excludes undisclosed sums and private equity but does include the £621,383,288 investment in 2019 winner, behemoth CMR Surgical.)

This year, there has been a sharp focus on medical innovation with early disease detection and surgical advancements high on the agenda. Ground-breaking innovations from across Cleantech/Sustainability are also included with some exciting battery developments – and the Agritech and AI sectors have also featured heavily.

The full list of inspirational Top21.2024 winners is:

The #21toWatch Top21.2024 People:

Ahmed Waraky, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and co-founder of K-Stem, is directing research that focuses on machine learning and single-cell omics to advance stem cell transplantation and personalised medicine

Alicia Showering, CEO of BugBiome, is dedicated to developing natural and durable microbiome-based insect repellents.

Mark Golab, co-founder of Cambridge Surgical Models (CSM), a startup focusing on manufacturing a new generation of artificial anatomical models for surgical training.

Bakul Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Deliver Biosciences, developing nanoparticle delivery vectors for targeted and specific delivery of payloads to re-programme cells in vivo, curing fatal diseases in a fraction of the time and cost compared to existing curative therapies

Jack Chengzhi Guo’s venture with Professor Erwin Reisner promises a new way to treat waste plastics. Based on interdisciplinary research at the University of Cambridge, their technology turns waste plastics into green hydrogen and valuable organics

Nadia Radzman is a plant biologist working on rehabilitating forgotten legumes back into the food system and is a co-founder of a startup that accelerates genetic improvements in challenging legume crops.

Paolo Bombelli and colleagues pioneered the development of a novel technology capable to generate electricity from the photosynthesis of algae. This novel technology can substitute portable batteries for powering billions of small electronic devices.

The #21toWatch Top21.2024 Companies:

BeyondMath is using AI to solve the complex simulation of physics in engineering design orders of magnitude faster, providing reductions in time, cost and environmental impact when taking designs to production.

Cambridge Vision Technology is a startup whose technology enables early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease using retinal scanning

Cellexcel has created a novel process to manufacture water-resistant bio-composite materials. These will replace conventional composites such as fiberglass & carbon fibre, as well as plastics and possibly metal.

ExpressionEdits’ proprietary intronization platform recodes transgenes to better resemble natural genes, leading to significant improvement in protein production – a key challenge for recombinant proteins and DNA medicines

Kuano combines state-of-the-art simulation and AI to add quantum detail to structure-based drug discovery, helping to enable the design of next generation medicines.

Remedium Energy developing a new carbon capture technology, carbon capture battery, that captures CO2 from cement/steel plants and monetizes the variation in electricity price to make carbon capture profitable.

Vector Bioscience’s platform technology tailors nanomaterials for drug delivery applications. These nanomaterials are MOFs (Metal Organic Frameworks) can store 10x more molecules than other encapsulation methods and are designed and tailored for effective and targeted delivery.

The #21toWatch Top21.2024 Innovations (Things):

EPIHERD (Antler Bio) – harnessing gene expression data and AI to evaluate the status of livestock and prescribe targeted husbandry interventions to increase performance, efficiency, welfare and sustainability.

Gus, the automated asparagus picker (Autopickr) – incorporates cutting-edge AI and navigation technologies, robust robotics, and new cutting technology to optimise the harvesting process.

Heartfelt Technologies – an automatic, AI supported, non-contact telemonitoring solution for heart failure patients.

Molyon has developed a new cathode material to enable high energy-density and long-life lithium-sulfur batteries. This opens up fundamentally new modes of transport and facilitates the net-zero transition

Tenyks – ‘AI doctor’ resolving issues for machine learning engineers working with computer vision data.

Verinnogen – building hand-held, innovative tools to directly profile physical properties of 3D surfaces with direct applications in pre-clinical oncology research.

William Oak Diagnostics – an innovative point-of-care test which simplifies the identification of various micronutrient deficiencies making maternal, child, and infant testing more accessible.

The final Top21 were selected from a shortlist of 40 out of 301 applications – and across a range of sub-sectors spanning aerospace, insurtech, augmented reality (AR), AI, and biotechnology – by an independent judging panel: Jon Bradford, Partner at Dynamo Ventures; Serial Entrepreneur Fiona Nielsen, CEO at Neurolentech GmbH; and Nitin Patel, founder of Impact Management Consulting Ltd.

Entrepreneur Faye Holland, who created #21toWatch, said: “The #21toWatch alumni list reads like the Who’s Who of successful British entrepreneurship with previous winners already huge contributors to a better future.

“With every new Awards, I think it’s going to be impossible to trump the previous year – but it always happens as the level of ingenuity never decreases. And with the work of our partners and judges we are consistently picking the right businesses to watch – in last year alone, which was a particularly difficult year for investment, our alumni raised over £110m in investments and funding which is simply incredible.

“It is a genuine thrill to see the companies and the people behind them progress. We are honoured to be there at the start of each journey.”

Over the last five years, #21toWatch has celebrated and promoted over 1,700 game-changing startups, ground-breaking innovations and standout individuals. To find out more please go to https://www.cofinitive.com/21towatch/

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#21toWatch 2024 shortlist announced

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 11:25:00 GMT

The 2024 shortlist for next month’s coveted #21toWatch Awards is announced – and it once again includes some of the most game-changing innovations, inspirational entrepreneurs, and start-ups from across the East of England.

Organised by leading tech PR and comms company cofinitive, and supported by the Cambridge Independent, the annual awards attract hundreds of entries from an eclectic mix of industries that include biotech, agritech, cleantech, deeptech, and life sciences.

Since last year’s Top21.2023 announcement many of the winners have gone on to achieve further success, and in many cases funding. Some highlights include genomics company Broken String Biosciences who closed a $15M series A Funding round; ViaNautis (previously known as SomaServe), developers of the revolutionary PolyNaut® technology, raised £20m in Series A funding to use nano-engineering technology to deliver treatments to hard-to-reach areas of the body; and biotech company Qkine, announced a new partnership with the UK’s new £12M cellular agriculture manufacturing hub, CARMA, to revolutionise sustainable food production.

The shortlist is determined by cofinitive and it’s sponsors and partners. This year Rachel Bradley, Partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP, and Jamie Bignal, Relationship Director, Corporate Banking at HSBC, evaluated each entrant to confirm the shortlist candidates.

The shortlist of 40 will each be assessed according to five strict criteria: innovation, the ability to address a real challenge, influence, viability, and memorability.

The shortlist of 13 exceptional individuals include:

Alicia Showering, CEO of BugBiome, is dedicated to developing natural and durable microbiome-based insect repellents.
Mark Golab, co-founder of Cambridge Surgical Models (CSM), a startup focusing on manufacturing a new generation of artificial anatomical models for surgical training.
Chantal Epp, founder and CEO of ClicknClear, a music rights-tech and licensing company solving complex music licensing issues faced across choreographed sports and performing arts.
Bakul Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Deliver Biosciences, developing nanoparticle-based vectors to control each cell inside the body to deliver affordable, scalable and potent cures.
Dr. Ahmed Waraky, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and co-founder of K-Stem, is directing research that focuses on machine learning and single-cell omics to advance stem cell transplantation.
Christopher Mosedale,CEO of Matrix Bio, a company aiming to advance 3D cell culture through innovative applications of automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing.
Douglas Brion, founder of Matta, a startup developing the universal operating system for 3D printers, leveraging the latest machine learning research and the power of the cloud to bring intelligence to additive manufacturing to radically change how humans make things.
Ismail Sami is a Research Fellow at University of Cambridge and Faraday Institution. He is the CEO and co-founder of award winning MoSTLi; creating the next generation energy storage solutions.
Jack Chengzhi Guo developed an award-winning technology that turns waste plastics into green hydrogen and other commodities with collaborators in Cambridge. He cofounded Protonera to bring the technology to scale.
Nadia Radzman is a plant biologist working on rehabilitating forgotten legumes back into the food system and is a co-founder of a startup that accelerates genetic improvements in challenging legume crops.
Paolo Bombelli and colleagues pioneered the development of a technology capable to generate electricity from the microbial photosynthesis. This novel technology can substitute portable batteries for powering billions of small electronic devices
Samantha Hodder developed an adaptive platform which uses stories and games to educate children (2-12 yrs) with cancer about their specific cancer’s biology and treatments.
Swetha Kannan is a Cambridge International Scholar pursuing her PhD at the Dept of Medicine. She is setting up her own healthcare start-up by spinning out two very novel, award-winning and globally recognised inventions in accessible cancer diagnostics/therapeutics.

The 14 outstanding companies in the running for the final seven Company places include:

BeyondMath is using AI to solve the complex simulation of physics in engineering design orders of magnitude faster, providing reductions in time, cost and environmental impact when taking designs to production.
Cambridge Vision Technology is a startup whose technology enables early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease using retinal scanning
Cellexcel has created a novel process to manufacture water-resistant bio-composite materials. These will replace conventional composites such as fiberglass & carbon fibre, as well as plastics and possibly metal.
clock.bio aims to extend and improve quality of life by reversing the harmful effects of time in our cells, harnessing the regenerative capabilities of human pluripotent stem cells.
Expression Edits proprietary platform developed at University of Cambridge improves transgene expression in mammalian systems. This has direct impact on recombinant protein yields and the quality and efficacy of DNA medicines.
Gigabiome leverage the advances in next-generation sequencing, microbiome science and AI to build technology for diagnosing antimicrobial resistance.
HotHouse Therapeutics harness plants to develop next-generation drugs by identifying pathways from source plants and creating synthetic ‘production crops’ for both existing and new molecules.
Kuano combines state-of-the-art simulation and AI to add quantum detail to structure-based drug discovery, helping to enable the design of next generation medicines.
Opto Biosystems is developing wireless, minimally-invasive, biological interfaces which communicate electrical information from the body, creating opportunities in advanced diagnostics and therapeutics, with primary focuses in oncology and neurology.
OutSee is a deep TechBio company exploiting our innovative computational approach to genomics for drug target discovery and precision medicine, extracting value from genomics datasets beyond the state-of-the-art.
Remedium Energy developing a new carbon capture technology, carbon capture battery, that captures CO2 from cement/steel plants and monetizes the variation in electricity price to make carbon capture profitable.
TraitSeq leverages cutting-edge AI to accurately predict complex agricultural traits, to develop high-yielding/climate-resilient crops, animal breeds, agrochemical/biological inputs, and gene edits to improve global food security and sustainable food production.
Vector Bioscience’s platform technology tailors nanomaterials for drug delivery applications. These nanomaterials are MOFs (Metal Organic Frameworks) can store 10x more molecules than other encapsulation methods and are designed and tailored for effective and targeted delivery.
Virilitas Labs is dedicated to improving and optimising services and interventions around male reproductive health and fertility by translating cutting edge research into applications for clinical and at home use.

Lastly, the shortlist of 13 game-changing innovations (things) for 2024 include:

EPIHERD (Antler Bio) – harnessing gene expression data and AI to evaluate the status of livestock and prescribe targeted husbandry interventions to increase performance, efficiency, welfare and sustainability.
Gus, the automated asparagus picker (Autopickr) – incorporates cutting-edge AI and navigation technologies, robust robotics, and new cutting technology to optimise the harvesting process.
Ediform – crafts exceptional food for those who can no longer find pleasure in eating but require tailored nutrition for their well-being.
Heartfelt Technologies – an automatic, AI supported, non-contact telemonitoring solution for heart failure patients.
Drawing Experiences (Human Experience Dynamics) – measuring subjective aspects of experiences, allowing users to graph their experiences in time, providing more sensitive, and precise measurement of mental health outcomes.
Lark Optics – created AR glasses that project images directly onto the user’s retina, eliminating the depth mismatch that causes discomfort and physical symptoms.
Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery future (Mostli) – developed a new cathode material to enable high energy-density to weight and long-life lithium-sulfur batteries, helping facilitate the net-zero transition.
OPAU – no-heat technology helps industry remove up to 98% water, transforming products into waterless, lightweight, preservative-free dry sheets without compromising quality and performance.
Supersense Technologies – remote monitoring product empowers families and carers with insights, alerts, and support to maximise the quality of life for their loved ones and enable respite for carers.
Tenyks – ‘AI doctor’ resolving issues for machine learning engineers working with computer vision data.
The Chemistry Shed – new biotechnology business that uses an innovative in silico platform, developed by scientists at the UEA, to accelerate the discovery of new medicines.
Verinnogen – building hand-held, innovative tools to directly profile physical properties of 3D surfaces with direct applications in pre-clinical oncology research.
William Oak Diagnostics – an innovative point-of-care test which simplifies the identification of various micronutrient deficiencies making maternal, child, and infant testing more accessible.

Faye Holland, creator of #21toWatch, said: “Each year we find entrants coming back year on year as their innovations develop, but this year it has been really exciting as the vast majority of entrants are joining #21toWatch for their first year. This just goes to show how much ongoing innovation there is, and we are hopeful that this list reflects the huge growth potential for the region in the future alongside our other alumni.”

The task to select the Top21.2024 is with the external judging panel, each year made of investors and innovators. This year, the independent judging panel was Jon Bradford, Partner at Dynamo Ventures; Fiona Nielsen, Serial Entrepreneur and CEO at Neurolentech GmbH; and Nitin Patel, founder and CEO at Impact Management Consulting Ltd.

Fiona told us: “As previous alumni, it has been an absolute pleasure to join the judging panel for the annual #21toWatch. I will be looking forward to following how both award-winners and nominees will bring their technologies to global markets. There is a lot of record-breaking potential.”

Nitin added: “It’s great to bring the rich diversity of the area together under the #21toWatch banner, enabling the innovative ventures to be showcased in a unique way.”

And Jon concluded with affirmation that Cambridge still has a strong-hold for the region with innovation: “Cambridge continues to prove its ability to generate novel and innovative new startups on an ongoing basis.”

The Top21.2024 will be announced at an exclusive ceremony on Thursday 7 ^th March 2024 at The Bradfield Centre in Cambridge. To stay informed, following #21toWatch on all social media platforms, and at cofinitive.com/21toWatch.

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#21toWatch expands support for startups across East of England

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 10:25:00 GMT

As interest grows in #21toWatch, the annual awards programme which celebrates the cream of new innovators and innovations from the region, a flurry of new supporters have come on board including Appleyard Lees, Crayfish.io, The Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, the University of East Anglia and Norwich Research Park.

Howard Read, Partner of leading IP firm Appleyard Lees said: “We are delighted to be part of #21toWatch this year and rubbing shoulders with so many high calibre spin outs, startups and scale ups. To be successful, you need more than a brilliant innovation: a robust IP strategy is essential to achieve your business goals, including attracting investors.”

The importance of IP is echoed by Ting Zhang, Founder & CEO, Crayfish.io, who said: “Crayfish.io is proud to be part of #21toWatch 2024. Since its launch six years ago, we have witnessed the event growing into an important source of inspiration to the aspiring entrepreneurs in our diverse community. Crayfish.io helps to demystify some of the issues that are most concerning when it comes to operating in China, from protecting intellectual property to finding the right partners and hiring local talent.”

The #21toWatch campaign also welcomes supporters from further afield and an influx of nominations from the broader Eastern region are expected.

Professor Sheng Qi, Associate Dean of Innovation, UEA, and Dr Soraya Jones, Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence for UEA, commented: “At UEA, we pride ourselves in research and innovation that will have an impact in the world in which we live. We create innovations to solve real-world problems. This is why we are extremely delighted to support #21toWatch because it is a programme that really showcases innovative and trailblazing companies that go on to do impactful things in the world.”

Faye Holland, #21toWatch creator and director of specialist tech PR agency, cofinitive, said: “By expanding partnerships across the East of England we are encouraging even broader participation in this our sixth year. It is testament to the campaign that we are attracting partners not just in the innovation capital of Cambridge, but across the region and we are thrilled to be working alongside University of East Anglia and Norwich Research Park.”

They now join long-term sponsors Ashtons Legal, Birketts LLP, HSBC, Keltie, EBCam, Penningtons Manches Cooper, Kao Data, The Growth Hub, Form the Future CIC, The Bradfield Centre and University of Cambridge’s impulse programme – who are all an intrinsic part of the hugely successful Cambridge ecosystem.

Ashtons Legal, a full-service law firm, is a loyal supporter of #21toWatch with this being its fourth year of sponsoring the campaign. David Sloman, Senior Associate, said “Ashtons’ is delighted to continue their support of the #21toWatch campaign and are excited to see another diverse cohort. Thanks to our involvement we get to meet the businesses and founders up close and get fully embedded in them as they grow.”

Faye continues: “I am thrilled to welcome new perspectives to the programme and remain humbled by the ongoing commitment and support we have from our long-term partners. A great, working ecosystem is about more than the academic brilliance and spin outs, it’s about the wider support system too, and that is an important part of #21toWatch.”

Yupar Myint, Head of impulse programme, University of Cambridge, said: “ impulse supports tech innovators in making great ideas possible. Partnering with cofinitive’s #21toWatch energises our efforts to recognise and reward the hard work of our alumni as they embark on their first business ventures. Congratulations to the cofinitive team for this remarkable initiative.”

The initiative is not only great exposure for those who make the coveted list, but also the sponsors and partners who get early access to some of the most promising new ventures and opportunities on the longlist, shortlist and Top21. By introducing those on the listings to investors, service providers, professional services companies, and support networks the #21toWatch programme can facilitate vital connections that help our homegrown talent to succeed.

“We are delighted to be a part of the #21toWatch campaign for another year! It is always great to see and hear about the exciting people, companies and ‘things’ Cambridge has to offer. As leading employee benefit specialists and independent financial advisors we want to see, and help, companies and their employees thrive” explains Steph Butcher, Director, EBCam Ltd.

Those who are announced as Top21 winners benefit from a host of prizes offered by the sponsors and partners worth up to £20,000. These have previously included free business consultancy services, the chance to feature on a podcast and media features, free banking, and a tailored session on anything from the brand to an IP strategy.

CLOSING DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Closing date for submissions is 12pm on 12 ^th January 2024 and the shortlist will be announced in February. A panel of independent judges will determine the Top21 who will be unveiled at the annual awards event on 7 ^th March 2024.

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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#21toWatch returns to spotlight regions brightest tech as nominations open for 2024

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 08:17:00 GMT

More than half the Cambridge startups [60.7%] listed in Seedtable’s ‘Startups in Cambridge to Watch’ list last month have already appeared on cofinitive’s #21toWatch list in previous years.

This timely revelation, as the nominations window for #21toWatch 2024 opens, confirms that the #21toWatch awards really do spotlight the brightest and best from across Cambridge and beyond.

#21toWatch recognises the outstanding people, companies and innovations in our region, providing high-level exposure and increasing opportunities for funding and investment for the winning candidates.

Every year, hundreds of nominations are received from pioneering individuals and companies, 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 sixth year, #21toWatch is the brainchild of cofinitive director, Faye Holland .

She says, “It’s brilliant to see so many of those, who have made our #21toWatch lists over the years now recognised by Seedtable. This includes last year’s Top21.2023 winner Qkine , who has recently announced a partnership with global life science group, Sartorius and is set to announce three new distributors as it expands its global reach. We like to stay in touch with each year’s cohort, and while it’s great to hear when our Top21 receive funding and investment, we are also interested in other areas of growth whether that is taking on new staff or relocation to larger premises.”

Being selected as a Top21.2023 winner in the Company category last year kicked off an amazing year for Roadfill Ltd .

CEO Christie Raptaki told us: “Following our win, we have increased our headcount and moved offices to an industrial complex in Haverhill. We have also more recently modified our blends of waste plastics to further reduce the melting point in asphalt, which substantially reduces both emissions and energy costs and provides for a quicker curing rate, allowing road construction projects to be finished quicker than normal. So, it’s been a busy time for us since we were recognised by the #21toWatch award.”

Another Top21.2023 winner in the ‘thing’ category, Kerb-e is now one of just nine startups selected for the Shell programme from over 3,000. Kerb-e has developed a revolutionary EV charger designed specifically for the on-street environment, enabling the 30% of UK households that do not have off-street parking to benefit from affordable, convenient and reliable charging.

Last year’s Top21.2023 winner in the ‘people’ category, neuroscientist Coco Newton has similarly been selected as one of the 2023 Schmidt Science Fellows, a fully funded fellowship, to work on dementia healthcare system engineering.

It has also been a busy time for Vuala , another Top21.2023 winner in the ‘things’ category. They began a testing programme for the Vuala X1, which automatically separates food waste from other wastes, turning them into raw material for energy production within hours on site. Recently deployed in The Bradfield Centre for an eight-day pilot trial resulted in The Bradfield Centre recycling 100% of its food waste and diverting a total of 160kg food waste from landfill – 400kg CO2e. That’s the same amount that a 4-seater petrol car would emit driving from London to Cambridge 25 times (1516 miles)! After making the Top21 list, Vuala also formed a partnership with Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR) and they have just announced that the X1 will be installed in the chain flagship hotel in South Kensington, the Copthorne Tara Hotel.

Faye says: “The quality of the submissions, year on year, has ensured the credibility of the #21toWatch initiative. It is hugely important to us to have rigorous qualifying processes in place, and judging is set to be as tough as ever. Good luck to all this year’s candidates and we look forward to uncovering and showcasing the newest companies across the region!”

They are as follows:

People: Mark Golab

Mark is an award-winning design engineer and a PhD Candidate in Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Mark recently co-founded Cambridge Surgical Models (CSM), a startup focusing on manufacturing a new generation of artificial anatomical models for surgical training after pitching at a university-wide competition hosted by the Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE) Society. Mark and his team were awarded £20k to turn the idea into reality.

Company: Opto Biosystems

Opto Biosystems are developing a new generation of neurological interfaces that can read electrical information from inside the body. The team are making very small interfaces, well-tolerated in the body, and applying it to one of humankind’s most significant health issues – cancer. Having recently appeared on an episode of Cambridge Tech Podcast we believe that this is the year for Opto and founders Elise Jenkins and Ben Woodington.

Thing: Blueshift Memory

CLOSING DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Closing date for submissions is 12 ^th January 2024 and the shortlist will be announced in February. A panel of independent judges will determine the Top21 who will be unveiled at the annual awards event on 7 ^th March 2024.

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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Next Generation of #21toWatch Winners Offer Game-Changing Solutions for the Challenges of Today

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:31:00 GMT

AI, IVF, DNA, Bluetooth, Wireless internet, the webcam, inkjet printing, ARM (smartphone chip), ALEXA, smart meters, gene sequencers, the asthma inhaler, the flushing toilet, thermos flasks, cats’ eyes, catflaps, round teabags, the hovercraft, the reflecting telescope, video games, the pacemaker, heart transplants, liver transplants, iris recognition, the Clearblue digital pregnancy test, ghd hair straighteners, Darktrace, Raspberry pi, Hotel Chocolat, the Maris piper potato, Concorde’s droop nose.

All have been invented, developed and discovered in Cambridge.

And it is because of our city’s long history of invention that we look forward especially to the annual announcement of the #21toWatch Top21 which heralds the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators across Cambridge and the East of England, and celebrates those who are building on the legacy of the famed Cambridge cluster by setting fresh standards in innovation and entrepreneurship across the globe.

This year’s exciting #21toWatch winners are, indeed, a true reflection of our time, providing solutions which highlight and address the main concerns of today: Alzheimer’s, inclusion, food security, energy-saving, recycling, sustainability, decarbonisation and other Net Zero challenges. And, over the last five years, the #21toWatch Top21 winners have attracted funding and investment totalling over £300million (£304,889,419.00).

Divided into People, Companies and ‘Things’, the Top21.2023 have all been assessed according to five strict criteria: Innovation, Challenge, Influence, Viability and Memorability, researched via third party platforms, and selected by an independent panel of judges.

The winners, announced at the awards ceremony held at the Storey’s Field Centre in Cambridge, are detailed below.

The seven #21toWatch Top21 individuals for 2023 are:

Ama Frimpong – already named the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) ‘Young Woman Engineer of the Year’ in January, Ama is Head of Product Development at 52 North Health Ltd. She is currently overseeing the engineering team in the development of NeutroCheck – a portable, low-cost, device which enables chemotherapy patients to be tested at home for suspected neutropenic sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of anticancer treatment.

Broderick House – CEO and Founder of Ethēcos, a venture revolutionising the experience of personalised nutrition. Broderick is also a Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholar at the University of Cambridge, where he is tackling global food insecurity through his cutting-edge research.

Coco Newton -Neuroscientist and Co-Founder of Fathom Cognition. Her goal is to create new cognitive markers which can help detect Alzheimer’s disease earlier, years before dementia onset.

Elena Cismigiu – Neuroscientist and CEO of Neuro XR, a company focusedon bringing the power of the human mind to Virtual Reality. Listed in The Telegraph newspaper’s“Top 100 female entrepreneurs to watch”, Elena is passionate about inclusion in tech and, as a disabled woman herself, providing equal opportunities to disabled talent and women wanting to pursue careers within the sector.

Dr Hannah Sore – Founder and CEO of PharmEnable, a company combining AI and medicinal chemistry expertise to develop the next generation of complex 3D small molecule drugs.

Lucy Jung – the youngest ever winner of Cambridge Judge Business School ’s Woman Entrepreneur accolade, Lucy is the CEO and founder of Charco, an experienced Founder with a demonstrated history of working in the health, wellness and fitness industry.

Dr Zoe Tolkien – Zoe is Head of Research at Advanced Furnace Technology, an engineering and materials science company working on net zero challenges through the ramp-up of silicon carbide semiconductors and electric transport.

The seven #21toWatch Top21 companies for 2023 are:

Broken String Biosciences – a genomics tools company leveraging a state-of-the-art platform for assessing off-target gene editing events in the genome. In partnership with leaders in the field, their mission is to bring gene editing therapies safely to all who need it.

Cambridge Smart Plastics – is relaunching plastics for a smart and sustainable future. Their natural biopolymers have created a new class of sustainable barrier plastics to initially replace metal and chlorinated plastic in multi-layer packaging and ultimately fully replace plastics for guilt-free packaging.

Helio Display Materials – a joint spin-out venture from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, which is commercialising technology for brighter and more colourful displays that use significantly less energy.

HutanBio – aims to decarbonise long-distance transport by making carbon-negative biofuel for shipping and transportation. HutanBio is utilising desert regions to increase global capacity for photosynthesis and achieve atmospheric carbon draw-down.

Qkine – a UK manufacturer driving innovation in growth factor proteins, essential reagents used in transformative technologies such as stem-cell disease models, organoids, cell therapy, bioinks and cultivated meat.

Roadfill Ltd – uses recycled waste plastics destined for landfill or incineration to repair and re-lay roads in an environmentally friendly way.

Spirea – created to advance a new generation of antibody-targeted cancer treatments with significantly better efficacy and safety profiles. Spirea will use its innovative technology to enable a pipeline of superior and differentiated antibody drug conjugates for the treatment of a range of solid tumours.

And, finally, the seven #21toWatch Top21 winning Innovations (Things) for 2023 are:

Cambridge Sensoriis – easy-to-install, all-weather, technology which is helping to unleash the drone revolution by maximising automation and safety, and minimising costs.

InferSens – game-changing ‘deep tech’ technology which is enabling ‘deep learning’ on device in the field on low-cost battery power for the very first time. InferSens’ first product, a clip-on, ultra-low power flow and temperature sensor, automates Legionella risk monitoring in building water systems. The sensors support efficient, wide-scale deployment, reducing costs and environmental impact.

Kerb-e – revolutionary on-street EV charger which is enabling the >30% of UK households that do not have off-street parking to benefit from affordable, convenient and reliable charging.

PAUA – an EV charge card and app which is making EV charging easier for business. One EV charge card, one app, and one fleet management dashboard is combined with access to 25,000+ charge points in the UK.

PolyNaut Technology (SomaServe) – polymer nanoparticle platform for next-gen genetic medicines. The PolyNaut polymer nanoparticle platform enables intracellular, targeted delivery of new genetic therapeutics, including siRNA and mRNA, to the brain and other hard to reach tissues and cell types.

Warmscore (Purrmetrix) – sensors and software to decarbonize housing without sacrificing comfort. For insulation and heating upgrades in housing, Warmscore uses environmental data and powerful software to measure housing and heating performance, so that we can decarbonize housing without sacrificing comfort.

Vuala X1 – automatic food waste separation technology from Vuala, which makes food waste recycling easy with added benefits. The Vuala X1 automatically separates food waste from other wastes, turning them into raw material for energy production in situ and all in a matter of hours.

Three businesses originated in the broader East of England leaving the majority of the Top21.2023 from Cambridge, which is known, unequivocally, as the UK’s Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation, and is one of the most respected Science and Tech hubs in the world.

Despite its small size, Cambridge receives four times the amount of tech investment per head than in London. And, as the UK’s most inventive city, has more patents published per resident than any other in the UK.

This year, the publication of the #21toWatch Top21.2023 list comes hot on the heels of the Government creating, for the very first time, a brand new, dedicated department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The news has certainly resonated. After all, the technologies of tomorrow – Quantum, AI, engineering biology, semiconductors and future telecoms, together with life sciences and green technologies – are the lifeblood of Cambridge and the East of England, and this is, undoubtedly, an important step in supporting bold new discoveries which will cement the UK’s position as a technology superpower.

#21toWatch founder, Faye Holland said: “Cambridge is certainly no stranger to innovation and technology. The university alone leads the world in the number of successful tech founders and spinouts it produces. And for most of those appearing on its long and shortlists, #21toWatch is a launchpad to greater things, and we look forward excitedly to following the journeys.”

The post Next Generation of #21toWatch Winners Offer Game-Changing Solutions for the Challenges of Today appeared first on 21toWatch .

#21toWatch announces shortlist of next generation of Cambridge game-changers set for future success

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 08:59:00 GMT

cofinitive have announced the shortlist for #21toWatch 2023 which this year contains an eclectic mix of industries – biotech, cleantech, agritech, construction, automotive, deep learning, marine, life sciences, AI – all sharing the same mission and motivation to develop game-changing innovations and solutions to ensure a better world for us all.

Over five years, #21toWatch has proved itself to be a reliable indicator of future success for those featured on its lists, with half of those featured in the Top21 receiving funding. Last year was no exception.Top21.2022 companies receiving a significant amount of investment that year included micro-LED maker Porotech, who closed a series A round of venture funding worth $20million; DIOSynVax, who received a $42m injection from Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop a universal coronavirus vaccine; and Semarion, a company combining materials engineering and cell biology to tackle unmet drug screening needs, receiving £2.14M in Seed funding.

This year, the independent judging panel with the tough job of picking the final Top21 from a shortlist overflowing with talent includes Hanadi Jabado, Managing Partner at Sana Capital; Tom Britton, entrepreneur, investor and Co-founder of SyndicateRoom; Maximilian Ge, President of Entrepreneurial Postdocs of Cambridge (EPOC), University of Cambridge; and John Stenhouse, Business Support Manager at University of Essex, who manages the Angels@Essex equity investment platform.

The shortlist of 43 will each be assessed according to five strict criteria: genuine innovation, the ability to address a real challenge, influence, viability and memorability. Each is then additionally researched via third party platforms such as Companies House and Crunchbase.

Our shortlist of 15 innovations (things) for 2023 are truly game-changing. They include:

an ‘AI doctor’ from Cambridge University spinout, Tenyks, ironing out issues around algorithms, bias, performance and data quality to help machine learning engineers working with computer vision data build more reliable software, faster
a ‘Google’ for healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations (the Medwise AI Platform), enabling them to give the best care for patients
an innovative on-street Electric Vehicle charger (Kerb-e) for EV owners who do not have access to off-street parking
automatic food waste separation technology from Vuala, making food waste recycling easy
and revolutionary ‘deep tech’ technology from InferSens, enabling ‘deep learning’ on device in the field on battery power for the very first time.

Our shortlist of 14 outstanding individuals for the seven Top21.2023 People places already reads like a Who’s Who of elite award winners. It includes:

Dr Zoe Tolkien, Director of Research at Advanced Furnace Technology Ltd, who was recently named an Innovate UK Women in Innovation award winner.
Dr Borong Hu, founder or Powersense Technology Ltd, a maintenance platform for renewable energy, who was runner-up in the Chris Abell postdoc Business Plan Competition 2022.
Ama Frimpong, Head of Product Development at 52 North Health, who was named the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Young Woman Engineer of the Year last month [December 2022].
Ryman Hashem, a postdoctoral roboticist who is creating innovative robotics for the medical, healthcare and industrial sectors.
Lucy Jung, CEO and Co-founder of medical device company, Charco Neurotech, who made history this year as the youngest ever recipient of the Cambridge Judge Business School’s Woman Entrepreneur award.

Lastly, the 14 standout companies in the running for the final seven #21toWatch Company places include:

Spirea Limited, a biotech company spun out of the University of Cambridge to deliver and advance the next generation of antibody drug conjugates (ADC), and address the high unmet need in the treatment of solid tumours.
Roadfill Ltd, a cleantech company using recycled plastic products to repair and re-lay roads in an environmentally friendly way.
HutanBio, developers of a scalable, cost-effective, low carbon emission, marine microalgal biofuel technology to meet the challenge of transitioning to net zero in the marine and heavy transport sectors.
Sun Bear Bioworks, a company reimagining farming with precision fermentation to develop and produce sustainable and healthier everyday ingredients including a deforestation-free, drop-in palm oil substitute for food and fuel.
Broken String Biosciences, a genomics startup set for international take-off and already causing a global stir with its technology that eschews animal testing.

Faye Holland , creator of #21toWatch, said: “Cambridge is the established centre of UK innovation playing host to a thousand plus startups and scaleups in the vicinity, which makes it a very busy region.

“#21toWatch, however, throws the spotlight on our unique talent and helping them to stand out in the crowd, especially those who are lesser known. A lot of eyes are on the Cambridge cluster. It’s a buoyant area for investment. And it is also plugged into the global stage.

“#21toWatch puts you on the immediate radar of investors and buyers as well as potential customers and collaborators and provides a chance to connect with the bigger community that is the Cambridge ecosystem. And that’s why, year on year, we receive so many submissions from people and companies wanting to be a part of this. Congratulations to all who have made it this far!”

The judges have been overwhelmed with the quality. Hanadi Jabado noted the list was ‘inspirational’ and John Stenhouse told us: “Innovation and innovators are at the very core of our UK economy and contribute to our global presence as a leading technology driven nation. It is encouraging to see such individual talent, technical enterprises and innovative products that will fuel future sector growth.”

The #21toWatch 2023 Shortlist for People:

Lucy Jung , CEO & Co-founder, Charco Neurotech, which is developing a wearable, non-invasive medtech device to aid those suffering with Parkinson’s Disease

Borong Hu , Founder, Powersense, an intelligent operation and maintenance platform for renewable energy.

Dr Daniel Ives , CEO and Co-founder, Shift Bioscience, which is developing machine learning technology to routinely reset to prime of life, avoid age-linked disease and make biological age control a reality.

Coco Newton , Co-founder, Fathom Cognition, which is creating new cognitive markers to help detect Alzheimer’s disease years before dementia onset.

Ryman Hashem , postdoctoral roboticist, University of Cambridge Bio-Inspired Robotic Laboratory, who is creating innovative robotics for the medical, healthcare and industrial sectors, and currently commercialising the automation of the biopsy process in collaboration with NHS and CUH.

Elena Cismigiu , CEO and Co-founder, Neuro XR, which is using neuroscience and behavioural insights to build and enhance immersive virtual worlds.

Broderick House , President, Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarship programme, University of Cambridge whose research is focused on global food insecurity.

Dr Saussan Khalil , Founder of Kalamna CIC, a social enterprise revolutionising the way Arabic is taught across the UK and globally.

Daniel de la Torre , Head of R&D, Constructive Bio, which is pioneering approaches for building entirely synthetic genomes.

Dr Hannah Sore , CEO & Co-Founder, PharmEnable, a drug discovery company combining medicinal chemistry and AI to develop next-gen small molecule drugs.

Dr Zoe Tolkien , Director of Research, Advanced Furnace Technology Ltd – an engineering and materials science company providing specialist graphite services to the semiconductor industry, such as graphite cleaning, purification and coating.

Ama Frimpong , Head of Product Development, 52 North Health, which is improving health outcomes and health equity by reinventing care pathways for all people across the world.

Dr Patrick Short , CEO, Sano Genetics – a healthtech startup improving the outlook for people living with rare and chronic genetic diseases.

Colleen Sheridan , Founder and CEO, Luucid, which is developing products to alert individuals if their drink has been spiked.

The #21toWatch 2023 Shortlist for Companies:

Spirea Limited , a biotech company spun out of University of Cambridge, delivering a new generation of antibody drug conjugate (ADC) therapeutics to address the high unmet need in the treatment of solid tumours.

Mimicrete , an advanced materials science startup developing novel self-healing concrete.

Versed AI , a technology company using cutting edge AI to automatically map company supply chains and uncover and manage risk.

Cambridge Smart Plastics , a company relaunching plastics for a smart and sustainable future.

Qkine , a biotech manufacturer driving innovation in growth factor proteins and essential reagents used in transformative technologies such as stem-cell disease models, organoids, cell therapy, bioinks and cultured meat.

HutanBio , developers of a scalable, cost-effective, low carbon emission marine microalgal biofuel technology to meet the challenge of transitioning to net zero in the marine and heavy transport sectors.

Broken String Biosciences , a genomics tools company leveraging a state-of-the-art platform for assessing off-target gene editing events in the genome. In partnership with leaders in the field, our mission is to bring gene editing therapies safely to all who need it

Monument Therapeutics , a biotech company bringing a precision medicine approach to neuroscience drug development, using proprietary digital biomarkers to successfully develop new drugs for schizophrenia and neuroinflammatory conditions.

Sun Bear Bioworks , a biotech company reimagining farming with precision fermentation to develop and produce sustainable and healthier everyday ingredients including a deforestation-free, drop-in palm oil substitute for food and fuel.

Roadfill Ltd , a cleantech company using recycled plastic products to repair and re-lay roads in an environmentally friendly way.

Helio Display Materials , a joint spin-out venture from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, which is commercialising technology that promises to take light-emitting applications to fresh frontiers.

Sanome , a biotech company developing novel AI technology to combine biomarkers into diagnostics, to detect early health changes. These detections will reduce hospitalisations, preventable deaths and enable early interventions.

CardiaTec , a University of Cambridge spin-out pioneering cardiovascular drug discovery with its AI-powered multi-omics drug target discovery platform.

Cambridge Future Tech , a uniquely technology-first venture builder, working closely with top-tier universities for positive global impact.

The #21toWatch 2023 Shortlist for Innovations (Things):

SemaCyte® (Semarion) – cell assaying microcarriers driving 10x gains in drug screening applications.

Tenyks – ‘AI doctor’ resolving issues for machine learning engineers working with computer vision data.

Kerb-e (Reehana Ltd) – innovative on-street charger providing a unique charging solution for Electric Vehicle owners who do not have access to off-street parking.

InferSens – game-changing technology enabling deep learning on device in the field on low-cost battery power.

Medwise AI Platform – ‘Google’ for HCPs and HCOs.

TILLING platform (Viridian Seeds) – Next-gen computational breeding platform for generation of new, improved lines and crops.

Vuala – food waste recycling made simple.

Cambridge Sensoriis – all-weather radar solutions for the drone revolution.

PolyNaut Technology (SomaServe) – polymer nanoparticle platform for next-gen genetic medicines.

VIOLET AI (IT & Software Vision Intelligence Limited) – enhancing manufacture and productivity.

Warmscore (Purrmetrix) – sensors and software to decarbonize housing without sacrificing comfort.

PAUA – An EV charge card and app making EV charging easier for business.

BCN2201 (Blecon) – novel low-cost chip operating over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

Wave Photonics –removing the obstacles that integrated photonics technologies face with chips based on fibre-optic designs.

RippleXn – compliance monitoring SaaS platform for the advertising/ creator economy.

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#21toWatch expands support ecosystem for thriving startups

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 10:46:00 GMT

Now in its fifth year, cofinitive’s highly respected #21toWatch initiative welcomes new supporters to boost its engaging business network for entrepreneurs and startups.

Establishing an entrepreneurial support system in the early stages is essential to help founders navigate the many challenges startups face. The obstacles that can trip up a new business are not insignificant. According to Tech Nation ’s latest report, 80% of startups collapse within the first two to five years.

Undoubtedly, collaboration is linked to entrepreneurial success. An active network offers know-how, access to funding and the talent startups need to prosper and grow.

#21toWatch is supported by a range of sponsors and partners who share cofinitive’s ambition to spotlight and support the world-class science and technology entrepreneurs, startups and ground-breaking innovation from across Cambridge and the East of England.

Joining the cohort of #21toWatch 2023 sponsors, cofinitive is thrilled to welcome Innovate UK EDGE, Bailey Fisher, Keltie, EBCam and Marks and Clerk.

Highlighting the benefits of its collaborative network, Helen Turton, Stakeholder Relationship Manager at Innovate UK EDGE East of England, commented: “Innovate UK EDGE has a key focus on connectivity across the innovation ecosystem, which feeds into our commitment to help ensure that local businesses benefit from the wide range of support available to them.

“Over the last three and a half years we have supported 1,266 businesses across the East of England to secure £53m in grant funding, raise £120.5m in investment funding, increase their collective turnover by £170.5m and create 1,189 jobs. We are working closely with our partners across the East of England ecosystem including, Innovation Centres, Catapults, Growth Hubs, Research Technology Organisations, Universities, Councils, business associations and Membership Organisations, to make them aware of the support available for innovative, high-growth businesses via Innovate UK EDGE, and for us to fully understand their business support offer so that we can work more closely with them.”

Buidling a talented team for rapid growth is a key startup success factor. However, the ongoing skills gap and economic uncertainty continues to curb growth in vacancies.

Bailey Fisher’s executive search helps fast-growth businesses in the technology and life sciences sectors. Managing Partner, Toby Young, explains how to attract the top talent: “Building the right team is integral to success and it is tougher than ever to hire excellent senior-level talent, so whatever the size or stage of your company, it’s vital that you stand out from the crowd.

“Companies need to consider their employer branding and value proposition. Employees want purpose as well as profit and are putting this higher on their list of priorities than remuneration when choosing their next role. Flexible, hybrid working is also here to stay with candidates now raising questions about flexibility early in the interview process. Culture is also key to attracting and retaining the best candidates, and more challenging to get right with teams working remotely.

“We work with companies that are tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges, so it’s a great fit for us to be involved with initiatives like #21toWatch that are helping nurture the next generation of game-changers.”

On top of the extensive support network that #21toWatch offers, the Top21 can take advantage of a raft of bespoke packages offered by the sponsors and partnerst. These packages are designed to help startups on their journey and includes everything from market access and investment to commercial insight and legal.

Penningtons Manches Cooper, a leading UK and International law firm is a loyal supporter of #21toWatch. Rachel Bradley, Partner, said “We are a firm dedicated to working with startups and spin outs, and we pride ourselves in being with companies right from the start and then staying with them through their growth journey.

“I am proud to be a part of this special science and tech ecosystem in the Cambridge and the wider East Anglia region. We are keen supporters of #21toWatch and all that it offers to young companies, including the incredible opportunity to be recognised and helped along in their journey to success.”

Faye Holland, Director of cofinitive and instigator of #21toWatch, said “We are extremely proud that the #21toWatch campaign continues to grow. Attracting new partners who participate in front of and behind the scene, is a testament to the very high caliber of people, companies and ‘things’ that we showcase. Our sponsors and partners get early access to some of the most promising new ventures and opportunities on the longlist, shortlist and Top21.”

Other supporters include Ashtons Legal, Birketts, Foresight, HSBC, ip21, Kao Data, RSM, Taylor Wessing, St Johns Innovation Centre, Tech East, Tech Nation and The Bradfield Centre. Cambridge Independent also returns as a media partner for the campaign, as a natural extension of the cofinitive sponsorship of our Science and Technology Awards.

CLOSING DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Closing date for submissions is 13 ^th January 2023 and the shortlist will be announced in February. A panel of independent judges will determine the Top21.2023 who will be unveiled at the annual event on 2 ^nd March 2023.

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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#21toWatch Top21 Winners Raise Over £250Million

Wed, 07 Sep 2022 07:56:00 GMT

As nominations open for the #21toWatch 2023 awards, cofinitive has announced that £258,145,819.00 has been raised by Top21 winners since the awards inception in 2018.

The awards, which recognise the world-class science and technology entrepreneurs, startups and ground-breaking innovation from across Cambridge and the East of England, provide year-round exposure for all those who make the list. Feedback received after the 2022 Top21 announcement event recognised that #21toWatch is a “fantastic forum supporting the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem”.

Now in its fifth year, the #21toWatch initiative has showcased over 1,000 people and companies and, of those that made the Top21, 47 percent received funding since appearing on the list. According to Forbes, who featured an article on the #21toWatch programme earlier this year: “Correlation isn’t causation, of course, but the figure suggests that a fair percentage of [#21toWatch] winners have commercial legs.”

Flusso is a great example. Having been selected as one of the Top21 winners in the Company category in 2021 and ‘Thing’ category in 2022, the University of Cambridge spin-out, developers of the world’s smallest flow sensor, FLS110, has gone from strength to strength, announcing only last month [August] that it had been bought for £28million.

cofinitive and #21toWatch has indeed earned a reputation for seeking out the ones to watch. The week before the Top21.2022 were announced in March, Top21.2022 winner, Porotech announced a $20 million Series A investment to accelerate global expansion and mass production of its unique micro-LED products. Two days after the awards event DIOSynVax , another Top21.2022 winner, announced a partnership with CEPI (The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation) worth £42million to work on new coronavirus vaccines.

Faye Holland , Director of cofinitive and instigator of #21toWatch, said: “We have already received over 100 submissions for the 2023 cohort even before nominations window has officially opened. We are delighted that the majority of these are new to the campaign and have not been featured on previous lists. cofinitive is all about fostering connections, and we look forward to showcasing these entrepreneurial innovators within our local ecosystem and beyond, contributing to their exciting onward journeys.”

Unlike other awards programmes, it is free to make a submission and to be part of #21toWatch, which is in keeping with cofinitive’s consistent pay-it-forward approach. Faye adds: “What I love most about #21toWatch is the genuine camaraderie that exists between startups and entrepreneurs within our famed ecosystem. Previous Top21 winners introduce their connections to the #21toWatch initiative and even those who are not eligible to be listed know about the campaign and spread the word.”

We are delighted to reveal the first three entrants to qualify and accept the nominations for their respective #21toWatch lists.

These are as follows:

People: Colleen Sheridan

Colleen is the founder and CEO of luucid, which is protecting individuals against their drinks being spiked. The company is currently developing its first product: luucid sip, a drug-detecting straw that alerts you if your drink is spiked with ketamine or GHB (currently the two most prominent spiking drugs). Colleen is one of the 2022 Cambridge Judge Business School EnterpriseTech star cohort, a programme for entrepreneurial individuals focused on becoming founders of new ventures.

Company: Tailor Bio

This is a very exciting time for Tailor Bio with their vision to make precision medicine a reality for some of the deadliest cancers. Tailor Bio has recently been bolstered by the award of a second Innovate UK grant and, on publishing their research, the co-founders featured on the cover of global science research magazine, Nature. The research forms the basis of the company’s approach to understanding chromosomal instability in cancer, which it is using to develop a pan-cancer precision medicine platform.

Thing: Infersens

Earlier this year InferSens raised $1million to accelerate the core capability development of its next generation tinyML technology. The game changing InferSens technology enables deep learning (a performance-improving subset of machine learning) to be executed “on board” a device in the field using only battery power. Eco-efficient and cost-saving, it is projected to deliver immediate results and has multiple use cases across the built environment and beyond.

Gemma Dorling who manages the programme at cofinitive said: “I have no doubts this is going to another big year. We are very fortunate to have candidates submitted by the sponsors and partners, and the funders and entrepreneurial programmes. So, if you get an email, get on board quickly – the long listing is just the start!”

CLOSING DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS

Closing date for submissions is 13th January 2023 and the shortlist will be announced in February. A panel of independent judges will determine the Top21.2023 who will be unveiled in a unique event on 2nd March 2023.

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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Forbes Magazine Features #21toWatch Campaign and Awards

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 14:27:00 GMT

We are enormously proud that Forbes magazine has chosen to cover our #21toWatch campaign and awards. And equally delighted that they have name-checked some of our fabulous Top21.2022 #tech winners in an article too!

Forbes writer, Trevor Clawson spoke to our Faye about why she created #21toWatch and why startups often need a helping hand to raise their profiles – and makes the very valid point that, even if you start a business in an established hub, it won’t necessarily be easy to raise finance. In fact, if you’re in a location like the Cambridge Cluster, which plays host to a thousand plus startups and scaleups, it might actually be more difficult to secure funding because of the competition.

And that’s where #21toWatch comes in – because it puts you on the radar of financiers, mentors and customers.

As Faye told Forbes: “Investors know a few of the companies operating in Cambridge but they don’t know all of them. We act as a connector. Even just being on the longlist has helped people get in front of investors and buyers. Tiny entrepreneurial companies get exposure, and they also get connections to the ecosystem.”

To date, #21toWatch has showcased close to 1,000 companies and of those who featured in the top 21 slots, 47 percent have gained funding. The winners can also expect material benefits as sponsors and partners offer an assortment of useful prizes including a free comms clinics, office space or free banking.

Taking part in Awards like #21toWatch provides a chance to connect with a bigger community. And, even in well-established hubs like Cambridge, that can be important!

You can read the full article online here at Forbes.com

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Medical innovation and sustainability dominate as #21toWatch Top21.2022 is unveiled

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 18:13:00 GMT

The 4 ^th annual #21toWatch Top21 list of standout individuals, companies and innovations has been unveiled at a prestigious awards evening held at the historic Cambridge Union – the first in-person #21toWatch ceremony for two years.

The winning Top21 were drawn from Cambridgeshire and the East of England’s renowned Science and Technology cluster, and from a range of sub-sectors spanning artificial intelligence (AI) digital technology, automotive and agritech.

This year, there has been a sharp focus on medical innovation, early disease detection, drug discovery, personalised medicine and, unsurprisingly, sustainability/Net Zero – with an eclectic mix of ground-breaking innovations including a needle-free injection, a robot ‘brain’, sustainable cellulose-based glitter and a sustainable raw material made from coffee grounds.

The #21toWatch Top21 for 2022 are as follows:

Top21.2022 People:

Dr Christopher Cleaver , CEO of DeepForm, who is developing an innovative sheet metal forming process which will enable the automotive industry to produce better car body parts with half the metal and reach zero manufacturing emissions.
Jeroen Verheyen , Co-founder and CEO of Cambridge University spinout Semarion, who is fusing material science with cell biology to solve bottlenecks in drug discovery.
Kanta Dihal , Principal Investigator on the Global AI Narratives project and Project Development Lead on Decolonizing AI at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge.
Marcel Gehrung , Co-founder and CEO of medical diagnostics company, Cyted, who is working to prevent disease with a pioneering digital pathology infrastructure.
Mohammed Alawami , PhD student at Cambridge University and Co-founder of Cambridge Nucleomics, who is developing cutting-edge cancer early detection technology.
Sasha Haco , Co-founder and CEO of Unitary , who is developing computer vision technology able to identify harmful and abusive content in context and in the absence of human moderators.
Stephanie Martlew , CEO of Psyomics,who is using technology to improve and prevent mental illness.

Top21.2022 Companies:

AgriGrub : usingBlack Soldier fly larvae to provide a net-zero-carbon solution for processing food waste.
Cambridge GaN Devices : designing and developing highly efficient/compact prototypes of next-generation Gallium Nitride power modules for both low and high-power applications. They have recently won government funding to develop a GaN power IC for server PSUs – and have revealed their first devices.
CorrosionRADAR : providing unique solutions for Predictive Corrosion Monitoring (PCM), enabling safer and more sustainable operations in Oil & Gas and Energy sectors.
Porotech : developing unique micro-LED products. Has just announced a $20 million Series A investment to accelerate global expansion and mass production.
Psyomics : relieving pressure on the over-stretched mental health system with its comprehensive digital mental health assessment/triage platform (Censeo) which enables people to find the right support or treatment pathway first time.
R4DAR Technologies : improving the safety and effectiveness of autonomous systems both on the road and in the air.
Sano Genetics : enabling researchopportunities to support personalised medicine.

Top21.2022 Innovations:

uRCU® robot ‘brain’ ( Antobot ): Highly integrated automotive-grade universal Robot Control Units combining hardware and software to power the next generation of intelligent mobile robots, in agriculture and beyond.
Inficaf sustainable raw material ( bio-bean ): Made from upcycled spent coffee grounds, Inficaf offers a consistent, versatile material for product developers, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and displacing virgin and petrochemical materials in plastics, automotive friction, cosmetics and more.
Needle-free jet injection ( DIOSynVax ): The spring-powered jet injection is delivered into the skin by a blast of air, offering an alternative to those who have a fear of needle-based injections.
FLS110 sensor ( Flusso ): The world’s smallest flow sensor has a unique integration concept, designed to make it easy to add new flow measurement features into virtually any product, even the most tightly packed or cost-sensitive designs.
APC (Adaptive Passive Cancellation) Chip ( Forefront RF ): Game-changing chip with unique self-interference cancellation, enabling a smartphone’s receiver to ‘hear’ the weakest signals whilst transmitting at full power.
Bolt ( HexagonFab ): HexagonFab creates tools to unlock the secrets of proteins and their interactions. The company recently secured £1.9M in seed funding to launch Bolt, an analytical lab instrument to speed discovery and production of next-generation biopharmaceuticals.
Sustainable cellulose pigments and glitters ( Sparxell ): Made from cellulose extracted from plants, these sustainable pigments enable products to reach carbon-neutrality more easily. They can be used in countless applications where colour vibrancy and effect are needed – from cosmetics and fashion through to paint and food.

Created by entrepreneur Faye Holland in March 2018, #21toWatch has now celebrated and promoted close to 1,000 game-changing startups, ground-breaking innovations and standout individuals,. Nearly half (47%) receive much-needed seed and Series A funding after being named in the #21toWatch Top21 – and many of the original winners are now closing significant Series B rounds, highlighting the accuracy of being on the #21toWatch lists.

Faye Holland – who is also the founder and director of multi-award-winning PR & Marketing agency, cofinitive – said: “cofinitive is itself a startup immersed in the startup culture. We understand more than most that a helping hand and a bit of a back scratch goes a long way – and that’s often all it takes to get a world-beating idea off the ground. And that’s why we continue to put on #21toWatch every year: to showcase the emerging, the lesser known, the ever-outstanding talent on the bleeding edge of innovation from our region – those that really deserve recognition, funding and support because what they are doing is truly ground-breaking.”

The final Top21 were selected by an independent judging panel after being assessed for innovation, challenge, influence, viability and memorability. The four judges were Emmi Nicholl , Managing Director, Cambridge Angels ; Matthew Gooding , News Editor, Tech Monitor ; James Parton , Managing Director, The Bradfield Centre ; and Ruchi Sharma , CEO and Founder, Stemnovate (and a former #21toWatch Top21 winner).

Judge Matthew Gooding said, “In what has been a difficult time for businesses, it is heartening to see that the ingenuity of the tech community in the East of England remains undimmed. Congratulations to this year’s Top21, all fine examples of the brilliant ideas and entrepreneurial spirit that we have in abundance in this region.”

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Annual #21toWatch shortlist announced in advance of return to in-person awards event

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 08:14:00 GMT

The 2022 shortlist for next month’s coveted #21toWatch Awards has been announced, featuring some of the most ground-breaking entrepreneurs, startups and innovations from the East of England.

After presenting the Top21 awards virtually for the last two years, the Top21.2022 will be back on the main stage, with winners presenting in-person. The awards will also bring together the alumni from 2019, 2020 and 2021 alongside an exclusive invitation-only guest list made up of investors, press, sponsors, partners, judges, and those who support the entrepreneurial community.

Out of 235 entries received, 127 qualified candidates made it onto a longlist, which has now been pared down to a shortlist of 39, featuring a vibrant mix of ‘People’, ‘Companies’ and ‘Things’.

As some of those listed move from stealth to seed and beyond, it is inevitable that some of those who make it on to the #21toWatch list will have been featured before. This was the case last year when SATAVIA was listed in the Top21 having previously been Top21 in 2019. However, the majority of those listed are appearing for the first time demonstrating the buoyancy of entrepreneurship in our region. In fact, this year over 70% of those that made the longlist are newcomers, and over 60% of this year’s shortlist is made up of entirely new faces.

The shortlist of ‘People’ includes Mohammed Alawami . Mohammed is co-founder of Cambridge Nucleomics and a PhD student at Cambridge University. His work at Cambridge Nucleomics focusses on develop cutting-edge cancer early detection technology that counts native RNA molecules quickly and accurately.

Other shortlisted ‘People’ are Darendra Appanah , Cambridge Consultants ; Dr Christopher Cleaver , DeepForm; Kanta Dihal , Global AI Narratives project at Cambridge University; Marcel Gehrung , Cyted ; Sasha Haco , Unitary; Stephanie Martlew , Psyomics ; Dr Alisa Molotova , Futureworx; Dr Anna Sturrock , Lecturer at University of Essex and Jeroen Verheyen , Semarion .

The shortlisted ‘Companies’ include R4DAR Technologie s which is on a mission to improve the safety of all road users in the smart autonomous world. It is notably one of 20 companies shortlisted from over 100 applications to take part in Cambridge University’s CISL (Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership) Accelerator Programme.

Also, on the ‘Companies’ shortlist is: AgriGrub , BioSure , Carbon Re , CorrosionRADAR , electronRx , Macomics , Monavate , Oomph EV , Outfield Technologies , Porotech , Psyomics , Qureight , Risilience , and Sano Genetics .

The ‘Things’ shortlist includes ‘Inficaf’ , bio-bean’s latest innovation from spent coffee. A bulk, uniform raw material, Inficaf has applications for displacing petroleum-based virgin and synthetic materials in plastics, automotive friction, and cosmetics, and has potential application in textiles and printing.

Also shortlisted are Antobot’s Robot Control Units (uRCU®); Cambridge GaN Devices’ Gallium Nitride power modules; Climate Code Shirt ; DIOSynVax Needle Free Vaccines; eScent’s transformative technology; Forefront RF’s Adaptive Passive Cancellation (APC) Technology; Flusso’s FLS110; Happyr Health’s App; HexagonFab’s The Bolt; Mobilityways Platform; Rnwl ; Sparxell and WATR – The Smart Water Quality Monitor.

The #21toWatch shortlist is being assessed by four independent judges. This year, the judges are Emmi Nicholl , Managing Director at Cambridge Angels ; Matthew Gooding , News Editor at Tech Monitor ; James Parton , Managing Director at The Bradfield Centre ; and Ruchi Sharma , CEO and Founder at Stemnovate and Top21.2020 winner. The judges will be assessing the candidates based on innovation, challenge, influence, viability and memorability.

Of the judging process, Emmi Nicholl said: “The 2022 #21toWatch programme is a calendar highlight and I am delighted to be part of the judging process. Cambridge Angels is a proud supporter of many of the previous winners and I know that each winner places great value on being selected. The exceptional quality of the nominations in each category means that the judging process will no doubt be a challenge, and it’s a challenge that I am looking forward to!”

In addition to the stellar cohort of sponsors and partners supporting the #21toWatch campaign is careers and employment company, Form the Future . Anne Bailey , CEO of Form the Future, says “We are excited to support the innovative people and companies that the #21toWatch campaign and awards celebrate. Finding and keeping great people with the skills and competencies to flourish in the 21 ^st Century workplace is one of the toughest challenges for any business, and particularly in emerging technologies. We are looking forward to working with the #21toWatch cohort to help build their future workforce.”

Now in its fourth year, the Awards will make a return to in-person at an exclusive, bespoke event on Thursday 3 ^rd March 2022. For more information, please visit www.cofinitive.com /21toWatch

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#21toWatch initiative improving collaboration across the region

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 09:58:00 GMT

The East of England’s pioneering People, Companies and ‘Things’ have less than a month to go until the #21toWatch award nomination’s deadline closes.

Two of the companies who have already made the longlist that are making the most of this opportunity are Creasallis and Psyomics.

Creasallis is The Creative Antibodies Solutions Company addressing bottlenecks in antibody-based therapeutics. It’s debut technology, CreaTap, engineers antibodies for deeper tumour penetration. This hopes to improve cancer treatments for patients.

Psyomics ’ comprehensive digital assessment helps everyone access the best support for their mental health needs, quickly and accurately whilst also reducing the pressure on the stretched mental health system.

Those who are announced as Top21 winners benefit from a host of prizes offered by the sponsors and partners. These have previously included a free business health check, the chance to feature on a podcast, free banking, and a tailored session on your personal or company communications strategy.

Maria Peyman, Partner at Birketts LLP , who has backed the campaign since its inception in 2018 said: “Birketts LLP is proud to be supporting #21toWatch again this year, an event that showcases the breadth of innovation in the region. Birketts has particular expertise in, and a commitment to working with and supporting, start-up businesses and established businesses that are moving into new progressive areas. This is why we recognise the importance of #21toWatch to innovative businesses and individuals.”

The sponsors and partners benefit from cross promotion with the #21toWatch campaign, as The Bradfield Centre found when they offered free office membership to the Top21.2021 winners.

Francesca O’Hanlon, founder and CEO of Blue Tap , was one of those to take up the prize. She said, “One of the prizes associated with the #21toWatch campaign was a free 3-month membership to The Bradfield Centre. This came at the perfect time for me and Blue Tap. Covid-19 restrictions were just beginning to lift, and I was keen to stop working from home. We have a small lab in Cambridge, but as CEO, most of my work is desk-based. Having access to The Bradfield Centre reminded me how great it is to be around like-minded entrepreneurs and freelancers. I loved working there so much, I decided to continue my membership after the free period came to an end. It’s been great to feel part of an entrepreneurial community.”

Founder of PR and Communications agency cofinitive, and instigator of the #21toWatch campaign, Faye Holland said “Since the last eighteen months has curtailed much of the ability to network and make new connections, we have been hearing time and again from companies and individuals that have been struggling with networking and business development. By introducing those on the long, short and Top21 lists to investors, service providers, professional services companies and support networks the #2toWatch programme is able to facilitate vital connections that help our homegrown talent to flourish.”

It is testament to the campaign that so many of the previous year’s sponsors and partners are keen to be involved year after year. It demonstrated how respected the initiative has become not just in Cambridge but across the region as both Tech East and Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor are supporting once again. This year cofinitive is delighted to be welcoming new sponsors Ashtons Legal and ip21 amongst others.

Dr Cristina Penine, Associate Director at ip21 said “We’re very excited to be supporting the #21toWatch programme to add value to innovative organisations and individuals by helping them to secure and exploit their IP assets, attract funding and commercialise their innovation. We have a well-established network of professional advisors in the innovation, technology and high-growth space which aligns well to support the organisations who are selected to be part of the #21toWatch cohort. We have a passion for, and a long track record of, helping high growth companies achieve their commercial objectives and we’re delighted to be supporting this programme.”

Other supporters include Foresight , HSBC , Impulse Programme at The Maxwell Centre , Kao Data , Pennington Manches Cooper , RSM and Taylor Wessing . Cambridge Independent also return as media partner for the campaign, as a natural extension of the cofinitive sponsorship of our Science and Technology Awards.

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#21toWatch sees surge in tech solutions for climate challenges

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 14:03:00 GMT

The #21toWatch awards which are open to the inspiring People, pioneering Companies and ground-breaking ‘Things’ across Cambridge and the East of England, have seen a surge in nominations for climate tech companies over the past year.

This is unsurprising as according to the TechNation 2020 report the UK saw a 21% increase in investment for climate tech, and agriculture companies, reaching a record $798m. While East of England climate tech companies received a 34% increase in investment to $59m.

Cambridge-based PR and communications company cofinitive, which leads the #21toWatch programme, has noticed a trend in the number of submissions for Climate and CleanTech companies over the past year and there is no sign of that slowing down.

Events like Cambridge CleanTech Venture Day, held last momth, highlight the importance of the CleanTech community. Covering everything from self-healing concrete and solar energy technology to zero emission diesel engine replacement and zero emission delivery operators – the range of pioneering technology is impressive and reflected in this year’s #21toWatch submissions.

Here we are pleased to feature three of the entries on the current longlist who are transforming how we live, work and travel, for the better.

People: Robert Edwards

Robert is CEO and co-founder of Solar Polar , which works to empower developing countries with sustainable cooling solutions. With more than ten years’ experience as a design engineer, product designer, and project manager, Robert has developed a number of unique patentable products and managed several key projects under the Energy Entrepreneur’s Fund (EEF) for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the UK.

Company: Oomph EV

Oomph is designing and developing a customer centric ecosystem to deliver rapid mobile EV charge where people need it. The company believe that as we are not constrained by a fixed infrastructure, EV vehicles should not be either. Oomph is designed to manage range anxiety and help people transition to EV, also to be a quick and easy solution for the emergency scenario. Delivering renewable power to EV drivers via an EV vehicle is a simple and clean solution.

Things: AgriGrub

The team at AgriGrub were amongst the first to grow Black Soldier Fly larvae in the UK and have a specially developed strain trained to eat waste. While there are other companies in the UK which build technology to support the insect industry, AgriGrub is the only company which uses organic waste as a feedstock (waste fruits and vegetables from Tesco’s supply chain). AgriGrub is also targeting scale, to make a substantial difference to the climate crisis by processing 6 million tonnes of food waste by 2030.

Gemma Dorling , Project Lead for #21toWatch, says of the submissions: “We are delighted to see a range of sectors represented once again in the #21toWatch long list. With the build up to COP26 it is no surprise that we’ve seen an increase of CleanTech and AgriTech companies”.

She continued: “It is also so exciting when we reach out to companies to tell them they have been nominated. Once they’re over the initial shock and see the impact the list has made on previous participants, they actively engage with the programme. It is very humbling to know that we are helping them on their journey.”

CLOSING DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS

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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Record Number of Nominations Expected For 2022 #21toWatch Innovation Awards

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 08:49:00 GMT

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.

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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The #21toWatch Top21.2021 Revealed

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 09:14:00 GMT

#21toWatch is a hugely successful campaign and awards that celebrates the outstanding talent within the disruptive science and tech industries from Cambridgeshire and across East Anglia.

The 21 winners represent the region’s globally recognised excellence in biotechnology and life sciences but also includes other incredibly innovative People, Companies and ‘Things’ in industries as diverse as artificial intelligence-enabled solutions, agri-tech, and water and energy sustainability.

The seven people, seven companies, and seven ‘things’ were unveiled at an interactive virtual awards event this morning (Thursday 4 ^th March) which included guest speaker, Arm Co-Founder Jamie Urquhart sharing his insights to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

The #21toWatch Top21.2021 creative individuals are:

Aleksandra Pedraszewska , Co-founder and COO, VividQ : Poised to be a thought leader in computer-generated holography, Aleksandra is Co-Founder and COO at VividQ. She is focused on taking VividQ’s software to the market with pioneering technology companies, which includes an exciting collaboration with Arm.

Dr Catherine Elton , Co-Founder and CEO, Qkine: Catherine co-founded Qkine in 2016 to re-define growth factor and cytokine quality to advance stem cell, organoid and regenerative medicine – areas she believes underpin future advances in human health and wellbeing.

Francesca O’Hanlon , Founder and CEO, Blue Tap : Francesca founded Blue Tap after she gained first-hand experience in water and sanitation working as an engineer in Mexico, India, South Sudan and The Central African Republic. Francesca is CEO at Blue Tap, a social enterprise using 3D printing to give more people in urban environments access to clean water.

Dr Giorgia Longobardi , Founder and CEO, Cambridge GaN Devices : After almost a decade of leading-edge research and development at the University of Cambridge, Giorgia and her team launched Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD). An inspiring CEO, Giorgia has a strong engineering background including a PhD in power devices and has just completed a $9.5m funding round.

Dr Gita Khalili Moghaddam , Founder, GlycoVue: Gita is an UKRI Innovation Scholar at the University of Cambridge leading the use of AI in medical technologies and therapeutics. In her entrepreneurial role, Gita established GlycoVue for diabetes self-management, and Gita’s own personal journey is an inspiration to everyone who meets her.

Prof Justin O’Grady , Group Leader, Quadram Institute : Justin is Group Leader at Quadram Institute, working on pathogens and rapid diagnostics. He is a key member of the Norwich team working on sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 virus as part of the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK).

Dr Tom Stubbs , CEO and Founder, Chronomics : Tom is CEO and founder of UK-based biotechnology company, Chronomics, founded on the use of epigenetics to give people the knowledge of how their environment and lifestyle are imprinting on their DNA and affecting their health. He is a specialist in epigenetics, machine learning, and computational biology.

The #21toWatch Top21.2021 inspiring companies on the way to being industry leaders locally, nationally and globally:

Cambridge Cancer Genomics : Cambridge Cancer Genomics software enables data-driven, precision oncology. Its AI platform analyses and interprets tumour DNA, enabling oncologists to provide more effective, personalised treatment for cancer patients.

Echion Technologies: Echion’s promise to reduce the charging time for electric cars to six minutes moved closer with the announcement that it has demonstrated a six-minute charge Li-ion battery cell with 200 per cent improvement in anode volumetric capacity over commercial competitors.

Flusso : This fabless semiconductor company, originally spun-out from the University of Cambridge, has developed the world’s smallest flow sensor as part of a flow sensing solution easy to incorporate in low-cost, high-volume applications. Last year, the company raised $5.7M series A funding to scale up and bring its vision to reality.

Kalium Health : Kalium Health is working to help millions of people living with kidney disease to manage their health at home. The company’s digital blood electrolyte monitoring platform is based on sensing technology developed at the University of Cambridge, one of Kalium’s strong clinical and commercial partner eco-system.

Leaf Expression Systems : Using its proprietary technology, Hypertrans®, Leaf Expression Systems is an innovative contract development and manufacturing organisation specialising in plant-based production of proteins, vaccines and complex natural products for research and commercial applications.

SATAVIA : Cambridge aerospace startup SATAVIA’s vision is to eliminate 2% of human climate impact by making aviation smarter and greener. Previously winners in 2019 , SATAVIA’s agile startup culture and connections with leading aviation players enables the company to quickly scale and adapt to new opportunities and partnerships.

The #21toWatch Top21.2021 ground-breaking Things/Innovations are:

Better Origin : Better Origin’s X1 is the world’s first autonomous, cost-effective insect mini-farm that converts waste biomass, such as excess feedstock or food waste into insect biomass, rich in proteins and fats. Tried and tested on chicken farms, it can be used to produce feed for any animal and is set to expand further with a recent $3m funding round.

Developing Experts : Designed to connect the world of work to learning, Developing Experts offers a science curriculum for schools and a careers and recruitment platform for the whole family. The company empowers employers to recruit responsibly by supporting its users to make informed choices about their future careers to build the diverse workforce industry needs.

Glyconics® : An innovative diagnostics company, Glyconics® is developing a range of miniaturized InfraRed (IR) products for point of care, exploiting the ability of IR to produce distinctive molecular ‘fingerprints’ in samples. The company’s first application is screening for Type 2 diabetes, a major global challenge.

Map of Ag : Map of Ag’s vision is to be the most trusted global data platform connecting farms and industry. The company’s platform can control how and where data is used, allowing Map of Ag and third parties to develop innovative solutions that drive efficiency, transparency and Net Zero.

Robok : A VC-backed Cambridge University spin-out, RoboK has developed efficient AI-based 3D sensing software solution for resource-constrained platforms to deliver safety for the automotive and transport industries.

Sook : Offering flexible space, Sook has developed a rent-by-the-hour business model which allows retailers to pay only for the time they are in the shop. With spaces already in Cambridge and London, the group plan to open in Oxford, Newcastle, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Poland, South Africa and multiple additional London and UK locations this summer.

Entrepreneur and cofinitive Founder, Faye Holland – who created the #21toWatch Awards – said: “Securing the Top21.2021 was a tough ask for the judges as this year’s shortlist was jam-packed with inspirational people and businesses from our region. Our aim for #21toWatch, this year more than ever, was to recognise those people and companies who are creating an impact – but also to facilitate connections and a network to support them.

“Congratulations to the Top21.2021, the Longlist and the Shortlist, we look forward to celebrating your continued progress in the future.”

cofinitive’s #21toWatch campaign was launched in 2017 to showcase and highlight the lesser known but outstanding talent within our region’s science and tech industries; those that really deserve recognition, funding and support because what they are doing is truly ground-breaking.

For details of the full #21toWatch programme and lists, please go to www.cofinitive.com/21toWatch

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#21toWatch Top21.2021 Virtual Awards Event – Let’s celebrate together!

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 09:58:00 GMT

11.00am until approximately 11.45am

Register today at https://cofinitive21towatch.eventbrite.co.uk

The #21toWatch Top21.2021 Virtual Awards Event brings together Cambridgeshire and the East of England’s science and technology industry startups and people, as well as a who’s who of angel investors, venture capitalists, high net worth individuals, key university representatives and other entrepreneurial businesses.

The hugely successful #21toWatch programme and Awards is a year-long campaign that showcases and highlights the next generation of people, companies and the ‘things’ that they create – recognising those across all market sectors and celebrating the very best work going on today in the region.

Out of 250 qualified candidates, only 48 have made the shortlist https://www.cofinitive.com/21towatch/ and only the most inspirational entrepreneurs, startups and innovations will win a coveted place in the Top21 of the Year.

The virtual event provides a global platform to celebrate cutting-edge innovation and entrepreneurship across varying sectors and scale. The 21 winners – seven people, seven companies, and seven ‘things’ – will be revealed in what is set to be a fast-paced event. Guest speaker, Jamie Urquhart, co-founder of technology company, Arm, will share what being an entrepreneur means and delegates will be encouraged to interact, through polls or idea sharing, and for one year only, will be able to vote for the network’s choice winner!

To register for 21toWatch Top21.2021 Virtual Awards event, please register at https://cofinitive21towatch.eventbrite.co.uk

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Annual shortlist of #21toWatch people, companies and ‘things’ is announced

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 15:31:00 GMT

The 2021 shortlist for next month’s coveted #21toWatch Awards includes some of the most inspirational entrepreneurs, startups and innovations from the East of England.

Out of the hundreds of entries received, 250 qualified candidates made it onto a longlist, which has now been whittled down to a shortlist of 48, featuring a dynamic mix of ‘People’, ‘Companies’ and ‘Things’.

The shortlist of ‘People’ includes Dr Andrea De Luca , researcher-turned-entrepreneur and Co-Founder/ CEO of Flusso , a fabless semiconductor company re-writing the rules on flow sensors in multiple consumer and industrial products. Andrea, an innovator in engineering, has become CEO of the now well-funded company, which is now addressing a big market potential.

Other shortlisted ‘People’ include Aleksandra Pedraszewska , VividQ ; Ayaka Shinozaki , techspert.io ; Carol Cheung , Cambridge Innovation Capital ; Catherine Elton , Qkine ; Dr Justin O’Grady , Quadram Institute ; Dr Thuria Wenbar , e-Surgery ; Dr Tom Stubbs , Chronomics ; Francesca O’Hanlon , Blue Tap ; George Bailey , Coral Eyewear ; Giorgia Longobardi , Cambridge GaN Devices ; Gita Khalili Moghaddam , GlycoVue; Jason Mellad , Start Codon ; Jenny Tillotson , eScent and Rosanna Kierney , Recruitment Junky .

The shortlisted ‘Companies’ include Leaf Expression Systems , a contract development and manufacturing business based in Norwich. The company specialises in plant-based expression and the production of proteins, vaccines and complex natural products for research and commercial applications including the ongoing global efforts to combat COVID-19.

Also on the ‘Companies’ shortlist are: Agile Analog , Blue Tap , Cambridge Cancer Genomics , Cydar Medical , Echion Technologies , Flusso , Iceni Diagnostics , Inawisdom , Intellisense.io , Kalium Health , Lightcast Discovery , Mursla , Plastometrex , Rainbird , Reflection Therapeutics , SATAVIA and Zedify .

The ‘Things’ shortlist, meanwhile, includes FLIT bike, a revolutionary folding ebike for the urban commuter. Inspired by the cycling culture in Cambridge, the FLIT team of engineers, designers and cyclists have produced a quality product that is already gaining market traction. The team’s tireless pursuit of engineering innovation in a tough and fast-growing market makes them worthy candidates for the ‘Things’ award.

Also shortlisted are Ablatus Therapeutics’ Bimodal Electric Tissue Ablation (BETA) ; Atelerix’s BeadReady ; Better Origin’s X1 ; Cambond’s plant-based resin technology ; Cambridge GaN Devices’ Gallium Nitride power modules ; Developing Experts’ online science lessons ; Glyconics’ FTIR spectroscopy for point-of-care testing ; Map of Ag’s platform ; RoboK’s 3D perception software ; Safepoint’s lone worker safety app ; Sook spaces ; Spotta Smart Pest Systems’ Spotta Bed Pod , and Thyngs’ platform .

techspert.io was one of the Top 21.2020 in last year’s ‘Things’ category. Graham Mills , Co-Founder & Managing Director, says: “Being named a cofinitive #21toWatch was a brilliant achievement for techspert.io in 2020. Being recognised for our growth alongside the brightest and best Cambridge has to offer was a real honour and has served as a valuable piece for advocating our brand globally to potential clients.”

But it’s not all just about making it to the Top21, just being named on the #21toWatch Longlist can elevate a profile significantly. Cornelius Palm , CEO & Co-Founder of Happyr Health – which is helping children suffering from migraines – told us: “We are very grateful for the awareness #21toWatch provided around Happyr Health. It was the best running post I had on LinkedIn this year – possibly even ever – with so many fantastic people from within the Cambridge ecosystem engaging with it and us.”

Entrepreneur and cofinitive Founder, Faye Holland , who created the hugely successful #21toWatch programme and Awards, said: “This year’s cohort have truly blown us away. The longlist was absolutely phenomenal – and, as a result, reducing this to a shortlist was incredibly challenging.

We have been delighted to see so many People, Companies and Things from previous shortlists, even Top21s, back again as their work progresses, and, in some cases, pivots. This continued recognition for innovation and entrepreneurship demonstrates how brilliantly these people and businesses are adapting, evolving and thriving despite what has been a challenging year for most.

“Our region is maintaining its global reputation for excellence in biotechnology and life sciences which is once again reflected in this year’s shortlist as expected. However, the shortlist also includes other incredibly innovative People, Companies and ‘Things’ in industries as diverse as artificial intelligence-enabled solutions, manufacturing, and water and energy sustainability. I really don’t envy the judges their task of assessing the 48 on the shortlist, to secure the Top21.2021!”

The #21toWatch shortlist is being judged by four leading experts across a range of disciplines. This year, the judges are Simon Thorpe , Angel Investor, Managing Partner of Delta 2020 and Chair of Cambridge Angels ; Yupar Myint , Head of Programme for Cambridge University’s Impulse Programme at The Maxwell Centre, a tried-and-tested catalyst for entrepreneurship; Thea Goodluck , Entrepreneur Engagement Manager for East of England at Tech Nation ; and Jason Mellad , CEO and Co-Founder of Cambridge Healthcare accelerator, Start Codon . All four will independently assess the candidates based on five criteria: innovation, challenge, influence, viability and memorability.

We are delighted to announce that RSM, Tech Nation and Invested Investor have additionally joined our regular sponsors and partners of the #21toWatch campaign.

Now in its third year, the Awards will be held as a bespoke virtual event on Thursday 4 ^th March 2021 at 11am. Anyone in the entrepreneurial ecosystem – entrepreneurs through to supporters of those shortlisted – can register for the event at https://cofinitive21towatch.eventbrite.co.uk .

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Businesses unite in support of #21toWatch initiative

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 15:08:00 GMT

With less than a month to go until the award nomination’s deadline closes, the ecosystem in Cambridge and across the East of England has united in support of the #21toWatch 2021 campaign.

The #21toWatch campaign, initiated by PR and Communications agency cofinitive, raises the visibility of the inspiring and pioneering people, companies and ‘things’ across our region. The list of nominations has grown each year, as has the support from sponsors and partners.

Faye McDonough, Principal, BOOST&Co Cambridge said: “We’re delighted to once again sponsor cofinitive’s #21toWatch Awards, shining a spotlight on entrepreneurship across Cambridge and the East of England. The region’s stories of innovation have been a great source of hope in a challenging year, so we look forward to celebrating the achievements of its remarkably resilient people, as well as the companies and ‘things’ they create.”

Penningtons Manches Cooper are also proud to once again be supporting #21toWatch for the third consecutive year. Partner in the commercial, IP and IT team Rachel Bradley explained “As a law firm with innovation at its core, we are thrilled to once again be a part of #21toWatch! Penningtons Manches Cooper is dedicated to supporting the technology and life sciences sectors in Cambridge and the East of England and we are delighted to support this fantastic initiative celebrating the cutting-edge people, companies and ‘things’ from across the region.”

Founder of cofinitive, Faye Holland told us “What began as a campaign to help perhaps the lesser-known people and companies in the region, has developed into a highly respected and recognised initiative. We are privileged to receive such great support from our sponsors and partners”.

One of those partners includes James Parton who said “#21toWatch has quickly established itself as the perfect way to discover the future breakout stars in the world-renowned Cambridge entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Bradfield Centre are delighted to continue our support and good luck to all the shortlisted finalists!”

Speaking of the campaign, Faye explained “Not only are we highlighting all the amazing work going on in the region, but we are also seeking to facilitate connections and a network that will truly benefit those on the #21toWatch list. Whether they are Top21, shortlisted or longlisted, those featured have received new levels of funding, mentors, partnership opportunities, interest from new clients and more.”

She continued: “We are delighted to have returning sponsors and partners for 2021, but equally excited to also be welcoming a raft of new supporters in 2021 including Kao Data, Taylor Wessing and the globally-recognised programme for tech innovators, Impulse.”

Spencer Lamb, Vice President at Kao Data said “Kao Data provides the infrastructure that underpins innovation, which is why we are delighted to be sponsoring the #21toWatch Awards 2021, because what they are doing is truly ground breaking.”

Gemma Dorling, project manager of #21toWatch told us that as with previous years many submissions come from Cambridge-based companies. However, the campaign is open to all entrepreneurs and businesses across the East of England. So it is not surprising that cofinitive has gained support from partners around the region including Tech East, Engage East and Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor .

Tim Robinson, Chief Operating Officer at Tech East , said: “We love #21toWatch – year after year it spotlights the region’s hottest companies, killer apps and innovation leaders showing time and again that the East of England is one of only a select handful of places in the world where you can really make a dent in the universe.”

Other returners from 2020 include Cambridge Judge Business School , Foresight Group , Birketts , Impact Women’s Network , and here at Cambridge Independent we will continue our involvement as media partner for the campaign.

Nominations for entries close at midnight on Friday 15th January 2021 and can be submitted via the form on www.cofinitive.com/21toWatch . There are three categories – People, Companies and ‘Things’ from which the final #21toWatch (seven from each category) will be selected by an independent judging panel and announced at a bespoke hybrid event on Thursday 4 ^th March 2021.

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Nominations now open for the cofinitive #21toWatch Awards 2021

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 11:49:00 GMT

cofinitive is delighted to announce the formal nominations window has now opened to uncover the #21toWatch Top 21 in 2021.

The #21toWatch Awards are open to the inspiring People, pioneering Companies and ground-breaking ‘Things’ they create across Cambridge and the East of England, promising a celebration of the region’s outstanding talent across all market sectors.

The programme – which is aimed at supporting daring new ventures and individuals – receives hundreds of nominations each year. It is open to all in East Anglia, with each submission assessed on Innovation, Challenge, Influence, Viability and Memorability to ensure that #21toWatch focuses on the most exciting emerging talent. With this in mind entrants typically employ less than fifty people and if they have received funding it is generally not in excess of £15million.

Faye Holland , creator of #21toWatch, said “The 2021 list is off to a great start – to date we have 60 qualified entrants that will be added to the 2021 lists over the coming weeks and months, and we’re excited to start seeing more nominations coming in each day.”

“In the last two years we have seen an uptick in companies in the agritech and cleantech sectors. For this cohort, following on from the impact of the pandemic over the last few months, we are looking forward to an influx of companies looking at sustainability and social impact too.”

The #21to Watch campaign was launched in 2018 and, each year, many of the Top21 have gone on to achieve great success – securing new rounds of funding, making new business connections and securing new clients.

2020 ‘People’ winner Ruchi Sharma of Stemnovate would encourage you to participate. She said of the awards programme “It’s a great initiative from cofinitive because it gives you recognition and a platform where you can take your ideas to the world.”

Tim Ramsdale , CEO of Agile Analog , winner in the ‘Companies’ category agrees “It’s been fantastic for the company, but actually for everyone that’s put their blood, sweat and tears into the Agile Analog over the last three years to build us to where we are today. It’s tremendous to have the recognition.”

To get the list started, here are the three of the first entrants to qualify for their respective list

People – Dr Kanta Dihal

Kanta leads the Global AI Narratives project, which explores intercultural public understanding of artificial intelligence as constructed by fictional and nonfictional narratives. She is co-editor of the new book AI Narratives: A History of Imaginative Thinking About Intelligent Machines (Oxford University Press, 2020) and she is currently penning two additional books on the subject. Her writing has appeared in the Huffington Post, Aeon, and New Scientist and she is a regular speaker in the media and at events including the World Economic Forum and New Scientist Live.

Companies – Rainbird.ai

Norwich based Rainbird.ai starts the Companies listing. Rainbird is an AI-powered automated decision-making platform that allows businesses to replicate and scale their best workers. They have developed an effective way of ‘cloning’ your best employees by copying abstract know-how and representing it visually in a type of mind map. By building these visual models of a company’s smartest employees, Rainbird then uses them to automate decision making at rates typically 100x faster with 25% more accuracy, preventing billions being lost due to inconsistent, uninformed decision making. Rainbird recently won the People’s Vote for Tech Innovation in the 2020 CogX awards.

Things – Spotta Bed Pods

Spotta aims to be the world leader in smart pest detection. Their core technology is an ultra-low-power, insect monitoring sensor that can detect infestations early. This allows their customers to intervene and resolve the problems earlier, more cheaply and with less environmental impact. Mentioned in the Fast Company 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards and recently secured seed funding.

After submissions close on 15 ^th January 2021 a shortlist is compiled. The shortlist is announced in February, and an independent expert panel will determine the Top21 who will be unveiled in a unique event on 4 ^th March 2021 in a yet to be determined virtual, live or hybrid event.

Of this Faye said “The planned awards event for 2020 was one of the first events postponed because of the pandemic. We were also then one of the first organisers to take the event virtual with a live broadcast and we were delighted with the reach of the new event. The results show we knocked it out of the park reaching a global audience of over 70,000 the morning of the announcement – which is great news for those on the longlist, shortlist and Top21, and of course for our sponsors and partners.”

She continued “We are working on a hybrid approach for the announcement in 2021 – but whatever happens, we know we’re ready to break the mould again as we continue to raise the profile of innovation across our region with #21toWatch.”

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.

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New date confirmed for #21toWatch Announcement

Mon, 18 May 2020 12:09:00 GMT

We are delighted to announce that the unveiling of the #21toWatch Top21.2020 will now take place via a live broadcast on Tuesday 9th June at 9am UK time.

As this is a broadcast event, we are also delighted to say we are not limited to audience numbers so please feel free to register https://21towatch2020.eventbrite.co.uk and you will then be sent the link to the broadcast.

And in the run up to the event, please continue to follow and interact with the #21toWatch discussion and celebrate those long and shortlisted people, companies and ‘things’.

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#21toWatch Announcement Postponed

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 11:18:00 GMT

cofinitive regrets to announce that the #21toWatch Top21.2020 Awards – due to take place Thursday 5 March 2020 – has been postponed due to health and safety reasons linked to Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Our host venue, Arm, has taken a decision to cease all external meetings as a precaution to ensure the health and wellbeing of their staff. cofinitive fully supports Arm’s decision during this unprecedented time and we have decided to postpone the event as the only responsible course of action.

Please continue to follow the #21toWatch discussion – celebrate those long and shortlisted companies, until we can formally announce the Top21.2020.

We apologise for any inconvenience or disappointment but will be back in touch as soon as we have agreed a new date for the event.

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Top21.2020 Judges and their judging criteria

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 08:44:00 GMT

The #21toWatch shortlist is independently judged by four leading experts representing a range of disciplines. For 2020, the judges are Isabel Fox (Luminous Ventures), Tim Robinson (Tech East), Siddhi Trivedi (Entrepreneur) and Bruno Cotta (CJBS Entrepreneurship Centre) who will all assess the candidates based on five criteria: innovation, challenge, influence, viability and memorability.

Here are our judges for 2020

On completion of the judging, Tim clearly articulated the thoughts from the four “ What impressed me most is that so many of the shortlist are people and companies addressing major real-world challenges in climate change, ethical AI, security, precision medicine and more.”

The Attributes of a Top21

To ensure consistency, the judges are provided a judging pack with specific guidance to follow. We talk about the five attributes of our Top21, here is a quick synopsis of what the judges are looking for:

Innovation – We’re looking for people, companies and ‘things’ that are progressing their industries and how things are done – tired of the status quo they’re leading the way to the next phase. Theya re judged on How innovative is the approach vs a late market catch-up, and how much of a step-change is it?

Challenge – When ideas have to search for a challenge to solve, they’re not pioneers or leaders of their industry. It isn’t a case of the chicken or the egg, true #21toWatch are working on real issues and solutions to fix them, and that’s what the #21toWatch is all about. The entrants are judged on whether they solving a real problem or just looking for one?

Influence – Addressing widely-felt issues is only impactful when the solutions are widely-known. Although the #21toWatch may be small or relatively unknown at present, they’re expected to explode once they elevate and influence their industry. How a #21toWatch candidate is integrating with other Cambridgeshire and UK businesses will also be a factor. Are they supporting or enhancing another innovative endeavour in the region? Judges also consider whether the entrant will catch on, or end here?

Viability – The #21toWatch aren’t just a flash in the pan; they’re long-term revolutionaries. #21toWatch may change and develop over time, but they’re people, companies and ‘things’ that are definitely here to stay. Any decision around the viability of a #21toWatch will need to include a complimentary, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable model too. Measures of ‘success’ are numerous and interconnected. Judges will assess whether their impact stand the test of time?

Memorabilit y – We wouldn’t be able to pick the #21toWatch if they didn’t stand out of the crowd. You often hear us talk about the ‘pants on fire’ affect – a burning passion and drive to take action and see results now, not in the unforeseeable future. That’s what we’re looking for in our top #21toWatch.

The Top21.2020 will be announced at an invite-only event on Thursday 5 ^th March 2020. For more information please contact us .

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Shortlist of #21toWatch people, companies and ‘things’ announced

Wed, 12 Feb 2020 09:18:00 GMT

The 2020 shortlist for next month’s coveted #21toWatch Awards includes some of the most daring entrepreneurs and innovations from our region.

Out of the hundreds of entries received, 207 qualified candidates that made it onto a longlist, which has now been whittled down to a shortlist of 62, featuring a dynamic mix of ‘People’, ‘Companies’ and ‘Things’.

Other shortlisted ‘People’ hopefuls include Beth Singler , Junior Research Fellow in AI; Essex-based Brigette Bard , BioSure ; Dr Kam Pooni , Glyconics ; Fotis Fotiadis , Entomics ; Giorgia Longobardi , Cambridge GaN Devices ; James Dean, Plastometrex ; Kane Halsey , Pickr ; John Cassidy , CCG.ai ; Katja Hofmann , Microsoft Research; Kieran Miles , Duco ; Ruchi Sharma , Stemnovate ; and Serena Belluschi , Majico and Mogrify .

Entrepreneur and cofinitive Founder, Faye Holland , who created the hugely successful #21toWatch Awards, said: “We are really delighted to see an equal number of women to men featuring on the ‘People’ shortlist this year. In key sectors where female entrepreneurs, founders and leaders are few and far between, this really is most encouraging.

Faye continued: “It’s also been exciting to see the wide range of industries represented on this year’s list. There’s been a huge shift from last year with ICT now making up 33 per cent of the shortlist, although there are a number of strong contenders in the Biotech and Medtech sectors too.

“We also have a stronger representation from CleanTech and AgriTech as well as increased diversity around retail, industrial and more people-based solutions. All this is a clear reminder of how amazingly diverse our region is, and the huge opportunity for convergence and agglomeration we can offer these businesses.”

The other companies on the shortlist are: Agile Analog ; Arete Medical Technologies ; Barocal Ltd ; Biofidelity Ltd ; Blighter ; Cambridge Carbon Capture ; Cambridge Gan Devices ; Citispotter Limited ; Conundrum ; CorrosionRADAR ; Dataswift ; Eagle Genomics ; Echion Technologies ; Glyconics ; Inawisdom ; Intellegens ; Kalium Health ; KisanHub ; Lightcast Discovery ; Mogrify ; Nu Quantum ; Okra Technologies ; POCKiT ; Qureight ; Reflection Therapeutics ; Riverlane ; Satavia ; Shift Bioscience Ltd ; VividQ .

The #21toWatch shortlist is independently judged by four leading experts across a range of disciplines. For 2020, the judges are Isabel Fox ( Luminous Ventures ), Tim Robinson ( Tech East ), Siddhi Trivedi (Entrepreneur) and Bruno Cotta ( CJBS Entrepreneurship Centre ) who will all assess the candidates based on five criteria: innovation, challenge, influence, viability and memorability.

Arm and HSBC have recently joined the #21toWatch campaign as sponsors in readiness for the bespoke event scheduled for early March.

It appears the campaign is one to watch in its own right.

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Businesses come out in support of showcase initiative across the region

Wed, 22 Jan 2020 09:20:00 GMT

With the award presentation fast approaching, the ecosystem in Cambridge and across the East of England are rallying in support of the #21toWatch campaign.

We initiated the #21toWatch programme in 2018 to raise the visibility of some of the up and coming people, companies and ‘things’ across our region. From the inaugural event in 2019 the list of nominations across all sectors has grown throughout the year, and with it has come the increase in support of sponsors and partners – the latest we are proud to announce, is HSBC alongside our host partner, Arm . Here is why our sponsors choose to support the campaign and awards.

Maria Peyman, Legal Director at Birketts LLP said: “We are delighted to once again sponsor cofinitive in support of their #21toWatch initiative. Supporting our local business community is at the heart of what we do at Birketts. We recognise that small business success is essential to growing our economy and to creating new opportunities for all. Recognising innovation and supporting our diverse and creative entrepreneurs at events like this throws the spotlight on them; which can help to attract investment and get the right business advice so they can thrive and develop in this tough economic climate. After all, these innovations are solving the issues and challenges of our future.”

Founder of cofinitive, Faye Holland says “What started as an initiative to help elevate many of the lesser known exciting new companies and individuals in the ecosystem, has turned into a highly respected activity and we are truly honoured to receive such support from our sponsors and partners.”

Observers of #21toWatch will have seen a great demonstration of the region’s ecosystem in action. By convening the individuals and companies at the sharp end of innovation, with the investors, entrepreneurs, professional services companies, service providers and support networks, the campaign is a great demonstration of how businesses can galvanise to help our homegrown companies excel. Speaking of the 2019 cohort, Faye explained “The outcome we were seeking was to facilitate those vital collisions that would propel opportunities forward. So far, we have had companies receive new levels of funding, interest from clients and targets, partnership opportunities and so on – not bad for the first year.” She continued “Many have also found new mentors and some have engaged board directors and that’s as a result of the campaign enabling the right conditions for people to come together.”

This approach was one of the reasons why Faye McDonough, Principal at BOOST&Co Cambridge chose to be involved. She told us “Supporting innovation and entrepreneurship is at the heart of everything BOOST&Co does, so we’re delighted to sponsor this year’s cofinitive #21toWatch Awards. We’re passionate about working with local companies and proud of our connection with Cambridge, so this is a great opportunity for us to support the business community and its brightest new stars.” Boost&Co have written a blog post on their involvement in the #21toWatch campaign which you can read here .

Whilst celebrating the vibrancy of the Cambridge market, Gemma Dorling, project manager of #21toWatch was keen to mention that it is important to recognise that the campaign is across the whole of the East of England – from Hertfordshire to Norfolk, up to Peterborough and down to Essex. It is therefore exciitng to note that we have engaged other partners across the entire region including Tech East , Invest Essex , Tech Nation , Engage East and the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor.

Other returners from 2019 include Invested Investor , Penningtons Manches Cooper , Impact Women’s Network , The Bradfield Centre and St John’s Innovation Centre . Cambridge Independent also return as media partner for the campaign, as a natural extension of the cofinitive sponsorship of their Science and Technology Awards.

Nominations close at midnight on Friday 31 ^st January 2020 and can be submitted via the form on www.cofinitive.com/21toWatch . There are three categories – People, Companies and ‘Things’ from which the final #21toWatch (seven from each category) will be selected by an independent judging panel and announced at a bespoke event on Thursday 5 ^th March 2020.

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Nominations now open for the cofinitive #21toWatch Awards 2020

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 08:21:00 GMT

Following the success and popularity of the inaugural #OnetoWatch campaign and Awards earlier this year, cofinitive has launched the 2020 campaign to find the next Top21 for the (now called) #21toWatch Awards.

cofinitive have started their extensive search to find those ground-breaking and inspiring People, Companies and the ‘Things’ across Cambridge and the East of England – those that are truly setting the standards in cutting-edge innovation and entrepreneurship across the globe.

#21toWatch is a dedicated campaign to showcase and highlight the often lesser known, recognising the exciting new entries across all market sectors, and celebrating the very best work going on in the region today. With such diversity and creativity amongst the #21toWatch cohort, each submission is assessed on five specific attributes: Innovation, Challenge, Influence, Viability and Memorability.

As with last year, the three People , Companies and ‘Things’ categories will each have their own diverse lists from which the final #21toWatch (seven from each category) will be selected by an independent judging panel.

An early nominee making it onto the People longlist is Emily Mackay , Head of AI and Data Strategy at Congenica . Emily was nominated by several sources for her exceptional work originating fresh ways to use AI to advance the clinical decision-support platform’s work in genomic interpretation. Emily epitomises the calibre of individuals working behind the scenes in many startups and says of her nomination:

Faye Holland , founder and director of cofinitive, says

The #21toWatch lists are created throughout the year. Every submission is vigorously assessed before being added to the longlist. From this, a shortlist is compiled before an independent judging panel determines the final Top21, announced on March 5 ^th , 2020.

The inaugural event last year was such a success that cofinitive was already receiving nominations and submissions for the 2020 campaign during the 2019 awards ceremony. Faye continues:

Many of 2019’s Top21 have gone on to enjoy great success – securing new rounds of funding, making new mentoring and business connections and securing new clients. What is evident is that this is a campaign that business wants to be a part of – either to be on the list themselves or to be supporting those businesses on it.

You can make your nomination for #21toWatch and find out more at www.cofinitive.com/21toWatch. Deadline for nominations is 31st January 2020.

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#OnetoWatch Top 21 . 2019 Highlights

Thu, 04 Apr 2019 11:06:00 GMT

Highlights of the Top 21 . 2019 inaugural event in March 2019.

Find out more about the annual campaign here .

The post #OnetoWatch Top 21 . 2019 Highlights appeared first on 21toWatch .

Top 21 #OnetoWatch recognition reflects the range of innovation across the East of England

Thu, 07 Mar 2019 16:30:00 GMT

We are delighted to announce the Top 21 who were recognised at the inaugural event hosted at The Bradfield Centre on Thursday 7 ^th March 2019. The award recognises the Cambridgeshire and East of England people, companies, and the ‘things’ that they create that are setting the standards in innovation and entrepreneurship across the globe.

The awards were presented during an invitation-only event where the winners had the opportunity to speak to a hand-selected audience of investors, professional services, entrepreneurs, developers and other relevant businesses.

Here are the details of the Top 21

To find out more about the #OnetoWatch campaign visit www.cofinitive.com/onetowatch

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Short list published for #OnetoWatch campaign in advance of March unveiling event

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 11:30:00 GMT

For the last 12 months, Cofinitive have been running the #OnetoWatch campaign showcasing the people, companies and ‘things’ on the cutting-edge of innovation and entrepreneurship in Cambridgeshire & across the East of England.

We set about on a plan to highlight the often lesser-known of these through our #OneToWatch campaign, through desk research, recommendations and online submissions.

Out of just over 500 entrants on the full list, it was important to triage who really constituted #OnetoWatch. It would be easy to assume that these would all be ‘new’ companies but the category of ‘things’ meant that companies like Cambridge Consultants, with their Pebal , also made the long list.

We had entries as far out as Boston, San Francisco, Canada, China and Barcelona. But with entries limited to the East of England (not just Cambridge), we had to omit those, as well as some really strong entries from the UK including London based Sean O’Keefe with COGZ , and Nova Extraction from Nottingham.

With such diversity and ingenuity amongst our #OnetoWatch cohort, the attributes we were looking for were Innovation, Challenge, Influence, Viability and Memorability and you can read more about this criteria on our blog .

Based on the above, the three published long lists accounted to only 42% of the total entries. And from that only 42 made the short list across a range of sectors including ITS, biotech and life sciences, textiles, aviation, AgriTech and social enterprise to name a few.

So without further ado, these are the 42 who made the short list – congratulations!

To generate the Top 21, we engaged with an independent panel of judges.

These judges were selected for their independence and expertise and we are extremely grateful for their time to carefully review the entries and judge them on the agreed criteria. The judging was completed on Friday 15 ^th February and the Top 21 will be unveiled at the invitation-only event on Thursday 7 ^th March.

If you are interested in attending, please email us at OnetoWatch@cofinitive.com and we will do our best to accommodate you.

To stay informed on the #OnetoWatch campaign, please go to our dedicated page . And the 2020 list is already being populated so please use the form to make submissions.

The post Short list published for #OnetoWatch campaign in advance of March unveiling event appeared first on 21toWatch .

Our amazing network supporting the #OnetoWatch Campaign

Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:06:00 GMT

At Cofinitive we strongly believe that supporting our fellow Cambridgeshire (and broader) businesses can only be a good thing. This is also a view that is shared by the sponsors and partners of our #OnetoWatch initiative, which aims to shine a light on Cambridge’s next generation of top movers and shakers.

Each of our sponsors and partners will be offering the Top 21 time, advice, space, or anything else they believe will support the Top 21 on the next phase of their journey.

Here are our sponsors and partners: –

Bailey Fisher , Birketts , callhr , Cambridge Advisory Partners , Grant Thornton , Kynesim , Penningtons Manches , pwc

Allia , CW , Barclays Eagle Labs , Impact Women’s Network , Invested Investor , St Johns Innovation Centre , The Bradfield Centre , Women4Tech .

Behind the scenes there has also been independent judging (which is now complete). Initially to bring the long list to a short list. Then the short list was judged by a panel of hand-selected experts. We thank Simon , Shima , Priya and Bill for all their assistance in deciding who makes the Cofinitive Top 21 in 2019.

Stay in touch with the campaign by engaging with the #OnetoWatch webpage . And request a place at the event on 7th March 2019 by emailing OnetoWatch@cofinitive.com

The post Our amazing network supporting the #OnetoWatch Campaign appeared first on 21toWatch .

The attributes of a #OnetoWatch

Fri, 07 Dec 2018 09:00:00 GMT

The attributes of a #OnetoWatch

With MedTech start-up: Kalium Diagnostics named #OneToWatch winner at this year’s Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards ; it’s time to contemplate the next phase of the Cofinitive-sponsored campaign as they select the region’s Top 21 #OnetoWatch Companies, People and ‘Things’.

Since Easter, we have been creating lists of the most interesting up and coming companies. The Ones to Watch differ in many ways, not only because they’re a mix of people, companies and ‘things’, but they also vary in sector and scale, to name but two. What they have in common is the stuff of entrepreneurial dreams – a bright future.

So, with such diversity and ingenuity amongst our #OnetoWatch cohort, how will we be able to compare them? The long-lists are already gathering momentum, so it’s time to delve into the qualifying criteria, which decides who makes the cut to the long-list and in the New Year, the Award winning short-list.

These are the attributes that all our Ones to Watch must have.

Attributes of a #OnetoWatch

Innovation

How innovative is the approach vs a late market catch-up? How much of a step-change is it?

A defining feature of our Ones to Watch is their inventiveness. We’re looking for people, companies and ‘things’ that are progressing their industries and how things are done – tired of the status quo they’re leading the way to the next phase.

Challenge

Are they solving a real problem or just looking for one?

When ideas have to search for a challenge to solve, they’re not pioneers or leaders of their industry. It isn’t a case of the chicken or the egg, true Ones to Watch are working on real issues and solutions to fix them, and that’s what the #OnetoWatch is all about.

Influence

Do you think the approach will catch on or end here?

Addressing widely-felt issues is only impactful when the solutions are widely-known. Although the Ones to Watch may be small or relatively unknown at present, they’re expected to explode once they elevate and influence their industry.

How a #OnetoWatch candidate is integrating with other Cambridgeshire businesses will also be a factor. Are they supporting or enhancing another innovative endeavour in the region?

Viability

Will their impact stand the test of time? Is it sound?

The Ones to Watch aren’t just a flash in the pan; they’re long-term revolutionaries. Ones to Watch may change and develop over time, but they’re people, companies and ‘things’ that are definitely here to stay.

Any decision around the viability of a #OneToWatch will need to include a complimentary, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable model too. Measures of ‘success’ are numerous and interconnected.

Memorability

Does it get our ‘pants on fire’?

We wouldn’t be able to pick the Top 21 #OnetoWatch if they didn’t stand out of the crowd. You often hear us talk about the ‘pants on fire’ affect, a burning passion and drive to take action and see results now, not in the unforeseeable future. That’s what we’re looking for in our top Ones to watch.

Take a look at the long-lists on our dedicated web page .

The deadline for 2019 is now closed, but if you see a company, person or ‘thing’ tackling a real issue with innovation that will influence their industry, let us know at OnetoWatch@cofinitive.com or @Cofinitive #OnetoWatch, so we can give them the spotlight they deserve, and don’t forget to join the discussion at cofinitive.com/onetowatch

The post The attributes of a #OnetoWatch appeared first on 21toWatch .

Will you be a Top 21 #OnetoWatch?

Fri, 31 Aug 2018 15:23:00 GMT

Cofinitive’s #OnetoWatch initiative aims to shine a light on Cambridge’s next generation of top movers and shakers.

People, companies and the ‘things’ they create are pushing the boundaries of what we do today, leading us into the world of tomorrow; and our #OnetoWatch lists ( Companies , People , Things ) are gaining momentum as we showcase the region’s future talent, innovation and entrepreneurship.

But what does it mean to be a #OnetoWatch?

Firstly, to kick-start the campaign, we partnered with local newspaper, Cambridge Independent , to introduce a new category to their Science and Technology awards . This year, in addition to the likes of CEO and AI Company of the Year, companies were able to apply for the Cambridge Independent The One to Watch award*.

But #OnetoWatch didn’t stopping there. Over a 12-month period, we have been uncovering and showcasing more of our region’s Ones to Watch on our blog and promoting them across a variety of media channels.

The initiative will culminate in the publication of the Top 21 #OnetoWatch people, companies and ‘things’ that we acknowledge as shaping the future of their industries based on a defined set of attributes .

The Top 21 #OnetoWatch will be announced at an invitation-only event on 7th March 2019, where each of the Top 21 #OnetoWatch will receive a bespoke accolade to mark their recognition. This will be the inaugural, annual platform from which the Top 21 #OnetoWatch have the chance to maximise their exposure as up and coming innovators, whether that’s across social media, membership groups, with investors and stakeholders, or in the press.

To join the Cofinitive #OnetoWatch master lists and be in the running to become a 2019 Top 21 #OnetoWatch, all you need to do is get in touch! Tell us on Twitter , Facebook , LinkedIn or email about yourself, your company and/or your ‘thing’ and why you think you’re a #OnetoWatch. Or in true Cambridge-style, feel free to nominate others too. The deadline for 2019 is now closed, but feel free to submit for 2020!

The post Will you be a Top 21 #OnetoWatch? appeared first on 21toWatch .

#OnetoWatch showcases innovation

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:16:00 GMT

Fuelled by months of research, the #OnetoWatch is underway and as an entrepreneurial company itself, Cofinitive is compiling THE list of Ones to Watch.

A #OnetoWatch can already be doing great things or just about to start, the main criteria is the potential to go on to even bigger and better things. This gives start-ups, emerging organisations and established firms a golden opportunity to be profiled in the region’s science and technology spotlight for something that is, or could be, ground-breaking.

While a #OnetoWatch can be almost anything, Cofinitive has mapped out four groups to classify them: companies , people and ‘things’ . Each group has its own list which is both broad and varied. See who’s made the lists so far with the links below. Have we missed something? Let us know!

COMPANIES

PEOPLE

‘THINGS’

So get your #OnetoWatch nominations in! Tell us who your Ones to Watch are by emailing us at OnetoWatch@cofinitive.com or post on Twitter to @Cofinitive #OnetoWatch.

The post #OnetoWatch showcases innovation appeared first on 21toWatch .

#OnetoWatch The ‘Things’

Thu, 31 May 2018 14:35:00 GMT

We’re hunting out the people and companies that deserve a place on their respective #OnetoWatch lists . But for many it’s their invention, product or development – their ‘thing’ – in their field of expertise that has made them a #OnetoWatch.

A leader of innovation, the Cambridge Phenomenon has earned its impressive name. From pacemakers to potatoes, as science and technology has evolved we’ve marvelled at the products that people and companies create.

There are those who push the boundaries of technology and those who identify unique applications for its use. Our region is a melting pot of these two types of innovators, which shows in the vast array of ‘things’ that deserve to be on this #OnetoWatch list.

What ‘things’ do you see as markers of innovation? These are the #OnetoWatch THINGS list (in alphabetical order) with those shortlisted in 2019 identified:

• Activinsights Wearables for Health and Wellbeing SHORTLISTED
• AI:MMO – Ocado Technology ( Code for Life )
• Algorithm to detect arthritis – University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering
• An alginate gel that ‘hibernates’ cells – Atelerix
• ARIC Platform – Featurespace
• Bean IoT SHORTLISTED
• Behavioural analytics to inform semiconductors – Ultrasoc
• Cambridge Launchpad – Form the Future
• Cancer screening as an employee benefit – Check4Cancer
• Capture and replay program execution – Undo
• Collaborating on an open standard IoT technology with the Weightless SIG
• Computer assisted dreaming – Futurizon Ltd
• DNA gene delivery – Avacta Group
• Drone surveillance – University of Cambridge
• Elektron Eye Technology
• Environmental DNA or eDNA – NatureMetrics
• The FAIMS microchip – Owlstone Medical
• Fingerprint drug testing – Intelligent Fingerprinting
• Flex-grid networking – ROADMap SHORTLISTED
• Food sharing app – OLIO
• Gene-editing drugs exclusively for cancer cells – Sixfold
• ‘Giving Points’ for Cambridge Street Aid – Cambridge.gov
• GO! Water bottle – Water-to-Go
• Hybrid ventilation systems – Breathing Buildings
• Increasing success of early stage start-ups by sharing entrepreneurial and investment war stories- Invested Investor
• MR for remote maintenance and repair of aircrafts – Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group
• Musical AI – Jukedeck
• Network united in raising the public visibility of impactful women – Impact Women’s Network
• Ooho the edible water bottle – Skipping Rocks Lab
• A unique social enterprise Overstream Clean – Wintercomfort
• Pebal the technology-based intervention that reduces problems during menopause – Cambridge Consultants
• Plastic semiconductor nanostructures developed by Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge
• A portable device that heals chronic wounds – Inotec AMD ltd
• Pyrolysis Process the only method of recycling aluminium laminates – Enval
• Quantum communications – Quantum Communications Hub
• Reusable beeswax food wraps – BeeBeeWraps SHORTLISTED
• Samsung AI Centre
• Slabs that convert footsteps into electrical power – Pavegen
• Sensors as thin as hair – Sorex Sensors SHORTLISTED
• Speedo On – Cambridge Design Partnership
• Solar windows – Polysolar
• Strawberry-picking robot – Dogtooth Technologies SHORTLISTED
• Synthetic biology for dyeing fabric – Colorifix SHORTLISTED
• Transforming the White Board with Kaptivo
• Unique self-injectors – Ovalmedical
• Venture support programme that helps tech-for-good startups and entrepreneurs innovate and grow – Allia
• Visual agriculture data management – AGRIinsight
• Weightless SIG SHORTLISTED
• Investor-led equity platform by Syndicate Room
• Leading the global market in connected street lighting and Smart City applications from Telensa
• …

Should your ‘thing’ be on this list too?

The entries for 2019 are now closed, but feel free to get the 2020 list started by completing the form or tell u via OnetoWatch@cofinitive.com or @Cofinitive #OnetoWatch

The post #OnetoWatch The ‘Things’ appeared first on 21toWatch .

#OnetoWatch The People

Thu, 24 May 2018 11:16:00 GMT

Known as a region of innovation, Cambridge digital tech is twice as dense as the average cluster with 15,500 jobs and £2.4bn turnover according to the Tech Nation 2018 Report . But success, innovation and turnover are nothing without people.

Behind the figures are bright, original and creative individuals who accelerate the pace of change, pushing both technology and industry to constantly evolve. Below you’ll see people who are firing up this #OnetoWatch list with their insight and expertise.

Here we present our #OnetoWatch PEOPLE list (in alphabetical order) with those shortlisted in 2019 identified:
• Veena Adityan – CEO at Smartbell
• Jelena Aleksic – Healthcare Entrepreneur
• Kath Austin – Founder of BeeBee Wraps
• Shima Barakat – Founder and Director of Impact Women’s Network
• Helena Blair – Schools Liaison Officer at University of Cambridge, Trinity Hall
• Zuzanna Brzosko – CEO at Sixfold Bioscience
• Tian Carey – Enterprise Fellow at Royal Academy of Engineering
• Adelina Chalmers – The Geek Whisperer SHORTLISTED
• Lily Cheng – Founder of The Rising Network
• Alan Cowley – Co-Founder Invested Investor
• Mireia Crispin – Research Fellow at University of Cambridge and Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute SHORTLISTED
• Prof John Daugman – Professor at University of Cambridge
• Matt Davey – Senior Research Associate at University of Cambridge
• Dilrini De Silva – Research Associate at Bioinformatics at CRUK Cambridge Institute
• Darrin Disley – Entrepreneur and Angel Investor
• Ciaron Dunne – CEO Genie Ventures
• Dr Chiraz Ennaceur – CEO at CorrosionRADAR SHORTLISTED
• Michaela Eschbach and Anne Bailey – Form The Future
• Inky Gibbens – Chief Storyteller at Tribalingual
• Joe Glover – Founder of The Marketing Meetup SHORTLISTED
• Dr Ghina M Halabi – Space Scientist at Cambridge University
• Vaiva Kalnikaite – CEO at Dovetailed
• Edmund Kay – Member of the Accelerate Program at Judge Business School collaborating with Cardiologists in his project Biophonics
• Sue Keogh – Director at Sookio
• Jack Lomas – COO at SenSat
• Emily Mackay – Head of AI & Data Strategy at Congenica SHORTLISTED
• Naily Makangu – Project Manager at Featurespace
• Alexis Mather – Founder and Chief Bottlewashing Officer at Nolojy
• Toby Norman – CEO at Simprints SHORTLISTED
• Emily Orton – Chief Marketing Officer at Darktrace SHORTLISTED
• Pahini Pandya – Founder at Emparity and Research Associate at University of Cambridge
• Alexander Patto – CEO WaterScope SHORTLISTED
• Velislava Petrova – Postdoctoral Fellow at Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
• Kam Pooni – CEO at Glyconics
• Heather Richards – CEO at Transversal
• Andrew Sandham – Chairman at PredictImmune
• Dr Ruchi Sharma – CEO at Stemnovate
• Berenice Smith – Founder of Walk In Our Shoes – a social design space created to bridge the gap between those who have children, and society that can misjudge by sharing positive stories and suggesting solutions.
• Ravi Solanki – Co-Founder Primera Impact
• Charlotte Steggall – Higher Education Champion
• Hannah Stern – Entrepreneurial Postdocs of Cambridge
• Dr Tom Stubbs – CEO at Chronomics
• Rhodri Thomas – CEO at Spectral Edge
• Raoul-Gabriel Urma – CEO at Cambridge Spark
• Jeroen Verheyen – Co-Founder of Semarion and Majico . Entrepreneurial Postdocs of Cambridge.
• Dr Karolina Zapadka – Business Acceleration Manager for Accelerate@Babraham SHORTLISTED
• ..
• ..

Should you be on this list too?

The entries for 2019 are now closed, but feel free to get the 2020 list started by completing the form or tell us via OnetoWatch@cofinitive.com or @Cofinitive #OnetoWatch

The post #OnetoWatch The People appeared first on 21toWatch .

#OnetoWatch The Companies

Fri, 18 May 2018 14:30:00 GMT

We launched the Cofinitive #OnetoWatch campaign by announcing a new award category in the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards and a new ongoing push to showcase homegrown innovation across our region. And that’s when the real work began in our search for the Ones to Watch.

The #OnetoWatch list will be divided into innovative and trailblazing people , companies and ‘things’ that are en route to being industry game-changers locally, nationally and globally.

Who do you think should make the list? Share your #OnetoWatch with us at OnetoWatch@cofinitive.com or tell us on social – @Cofinitive #OnetoWatch

We’ve set the wheels in motion with companies that are making waves in their respective fields, with a view to crowdsource who you believe should be on the full Ones to Watch list. So… here it is, our #OnetoWatch COMPANIES list (in alphabetical order) with those shortlisted in 2019 identified:
• 8power SHORTLISTED
• 10to8
• 1Spatial
• Above Surveying
• Acacia Pharma
• Agrimetrics SHORTLISTED
• Alviol
• ANB Sensors SHORTLISTED
• Aqdot
• Arcus Global
• Arecor
• Artios Pharma
• Audio Analytic
• Aveillant
• Avvinity
• Axol Bioscience
• Azuri Technologies
• bio-bean
• BIOS SHORTLISTED
• Biosceptre
• Blighter Surveillance Systems
• Cambioscience
• Cambridge Epigenetix
• Cambridge Glycoscience SHORTLISTED
• Cambridge Graphene Ltd
• Cambridge InnoVision
• Cambridge Nanotherm
• Cambridge Nexus
• Cambridge Picture Company
• Cambridge Touch Technologies
• Chronomics SHORTLISTED
• CMR Surgical SHORTLISTED
• Community Sparx
• Congenica
• CorrosionRADAR SHORTLISTED
• Cydar SHORTLISTED
• Darktrace
• DefiniGEN
• Dogtooth Technologies
• Eight19
• Elektron RX
• Elpis Biomed
• Entomics SHORTLISTED
• Entopy
• Enval
• Equivital
• Exonate SHORTLISTED
• Fetch.AI SHORTLISTED
• FGV Cambridge Nanosystems
• Five.ai
• FlexEnable
• Fluidic Analytics
• Focal Point Positioning
• Frontier
• Fstar
• FutureNova
• Gearset
• Geospock
• Glyconics
• Granta Innovation SHORTLISTED
• Healthera SHORTLISTED
• Healx
• Herdsy
• Hummingbird
• Inivata
• Inkle Studios
• IntelliSense.io
• ip.access
• Isomerase Therapeutics
• Kalium Diagnostics
• KisanHub
• Kymab
• Lateral Design
• Levin Sources
• LIFNanoRX
• Majico
• Maxxpal
• Metrion Biosciences
• MetroBank
• Microbiotica
• Mission Therapeutics
• Morphogen-ix
• Mursla SHORTLISTED
• Ninja Theory
• Nolojy SHORTLISTED
• Nova Extraction
• OKRA SHORTLISTED
• Origami Energy
• Paragraf SHORTLISTED
• PBD Biotech
• PervasID
• PetaGene SHORTLISTED
• PharmEnable
• PhoreMost
• PneumaCare
• Poly-ai
• Posttag
• PROWLER.io SHORTLISTED
• Qkine
• Repositive.io SHORTLISTED
• RoboK
• Satavia SHORTLISTED
• Simprints
• Spark EV Technology SHORTLISTED
• Speechmatics
• Sphere Fluidics
• Stemnovate
• Storm Therapeutics
• Sutrue
• TAB UK LTD
• Tevva Motors
• Tribalingual SHORTLISTED
• Tripism
• Trustonic
• TTP Ventus
• TwistDX
• Vaiopak
• Virtualarts SHORTLISTED
• VNC Automotive
• Waterscope
• WorldLabs
• Yagro
• ZifiSense
• Zfactor

Should you be on this list?

Remember, we’re looking to create the lists for the top companies, people and ‘things’ to watch so there’s no limit to where we’re seeking innovation.

The entries for 2019 are now closed, but feel free to get the 2020 list started by completing the form or tell us via OnetoWatch@cofinitive.com or @Cofinitive #OnetoWatch

The post #OnetoWatch The Companies appeared first on 21toWatch .

Cofinitive launches campaign to shine spotlight on the Ones to Watch

Wed, 09 May 2018 08:53:00 GMT

*If you want to know everything there is to know about the #OnetoWatch initiative, head to the #OnetoWatch hub .*

At Cofinitive we’ve coined ‘ Pants on Fire ’. That’s the burning drive with which people on the brink of their next big thing want to achieve their goals and go even further. We can’t take our eyes off people and teams with their Pants on Fire, with good reason. They’re all ‘Ones to Watch’. And it’s time we shine a spotlight on the Ones to Watch across Cambridgeshire.

To be forward-facing in our fast worlds of business, technology and society, you need to look beyond what’s current and turn to the Ones to Watch. Better yet, be a leader in an accelerating pace of change by becoming a #OnetoWatch yourself. You, your team, your technology or your ‘thing’ could shape the trends of the future by stepping out and following your own innovative vision, for everyone to see and follow in your wake.

We’re pleased to launch the #OnetoWatch campaign and support a new award in the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards . Faye Holland , Founder of Cofinitive said

The post Cofinitive launches campaign to shine spotlight on the Ones to Watch appeared first on 21toWatch .