Innovate UK
Forbes 30 under 30 Europe 2017 highlights the brightest young entrepreneurs, innovators and game changers with the potential to change the world. Across 6 of the 10 industry categories in Europe, 11 of the projects honoured have received Innovate UK support.
Winning projects
Industry
- Susan Graham, co-founder of BioCarbon Engineering, which uses drones and remote sensing to restore woodlands and forests by planting trees quickly and cheaply
Retail and ecommerce
- Freddy Macnamara, founder of Cuvva. Cuvvas car insurance model is designed to more accurately represent drivers risk profiles. It allows customers to insure their parked car for a base fee and only pay extra when they drive it
Media
- David Benigson, CEO of Signal, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide hyper-relevant real-time content and news to businesses
Science and healthcare
- Amrit Chandan and Carlton Cummins, co-founders of Aceleron. This partnership is working to convert end-of-life electric vehicle batteries into safe, cost-effective energy storage for developing regions
- Alex Bond, CEO of Fresh Check. With fellow Imperial College PhD students, Alex has developed a simple colour-change system for food packaging that alerts consumers to bacterial contamination
Social entrepreneurs
- Julian Melchiorri, founder of Arborea, which is working to develop biotechnology solutions for urban pollution and wastewater treatment. Its BioSolar Leaf mimics photosynthesis to support energy producing, carbon-neutral buildings
- Elena Dieckmann and Ryan Robinson, co-founders of Aeropowder, who are looking to repurpose feathers from the poultry industry that have traditionally gone to waste, and exploit the naturally high-performance material into new products
- Tom Webster, co-founder of GrowUp Urban Farms. With his co-founders Tom has developed an aquaponics system for the sustainable, year-round farming of produce and fish, allowing consumers to locally source their food
Technology
- Victor Dillard and Edward Perello, co-founders of Desktop Genetics. The University of Cambridge postgrads marry software innovation with life sciences. They are building an AI to re-engineer the human genome and treat genetic causes of disease
- Ankur Modi, co-founder of StatusToday, offers an AI tool that gives business managers insight into their employees, helping them to improve performance and recognise threats
- Timothy Sadler, co-founder, CheckRecipient, which uses AI to spot and prevent email data breaches and loss before it happens
How we support businesses
These innovators have benefitted from a variety of Innovate UK programmes, including direct competition funding, innovation vouchers and knowledge transfer partnerships, which connect businesses with a university and recently-qualified graduate to bring in new knowledge.
Elena Dieckmann of Aeropowder was one of the winners in our women in innovation competition, receiving 50,000, a tailored business support package and mentorship. The competition aimed to challenge the low number of female entrepreneurs in the UK and encourage diversity.