Wolfson Entrepreneurship Competition 2024

This year's Wolfson Entrepreneurship Competition final was held on Sunday 17 March 2024. To read about the event and the winning teams, please see our news item.

What is the Wolfson Entrepreneurship Competition 2024?

This competition is an opportunity to design, pitch, and execute your start-up idea in a supportive environment. Whether you are a postgraduate researcher thinking about commercializing and technology transfer, a first-year undergraduate interested in trying your hand at conceiving a business plan, or an alumnus currently involved in a more developed start-up venture, we want to hear from you and help you take your project to the next level.

Finalists will have the chance to win prize money across our themes of Climate Tech, Global Health, and Female Founders, as well as the opportunity to present their pitches to the WES network of expert speakers and judges. An overall winner will receive £5000, and the best entries in the Climate Tech, Global Health, and Female Founders categories will receive £2,500 each.

Meet this year's finalists

From revolutionising healthcare to addressing environmental challenges, this year's shortlisted teams are ready to make a significant impact with ideas that will shape our world and our future:

• Agemica is utilising AI to develop an innovative aging vaccine targeting a minimal genetic signature for all age-related diseases.
• Belle Health focuses on empowering women/AFAB by managing premenstrual disorders, enhancing their quality of life through healthcare innovation.
• BravelyCultured manufactures sustainable surfactants using a proprietary marine microbial biobank, providing eco-friendly alternatives for cosmetics and cleaning products.
• Climate-i addresses fluorinated gas emissions with a focus on early detection and capture of sulphur hexafluoride leaks, ensuring a net-zero future for the world's power supply.
• Compound Hound aims to commercialise a patented e-nose technology, bringing odour recognition as a tool into every aspect of our lives starting by tackling food waste. 
• Cosysense boosts comfort in buildings while reducing electricity costs and emissions through an AI with sensors subscription for heating and cooling, priced at a fraction of realised energy savings. 
• DiscoTech derives simpler drug candidates from natural products, improving drug manufacturing efficiency, costs and environmental impact.
• DropCode pioneers the next generation of droplet microfluidics for protein engineering, offering data for future biotechnology through AI synergy.
• Kinhub's patent-pending generative AI platform democratises access to top-tier coaching for improved productivity and well-being.
• Media City Scientific transforms cell culture with a broad-spectrum alternative to foetal bovine serum, making it clinic-ready, ethical, price-stable and reproducible. 
• Nanomation software enables the semiconductor industry to manufacture with nanomaterials, promising faster, more powerful, and greener chips.
• NeoTILa, a clinical stage cell therapy company, aims to provide therapeutic solutions for fatty liver and liver cancer through an AI-enabled app.
• NeuroAge Therapeutics, based in San Francisco, focuses on personalised therapies to reverse brain aging and treat dementia.
• QuSinus develops Radio Frequency/microwave signal generators with fine precision, enabling technology advancements for applications such as 6G telecommunications or radar systems.
• Remedium tackles carbon emissions with a "carbon capture battery," potentially making carbon capture profitable for industries.
• Swaza has developed the world's first nanofluid breathing aid, revolutionising the fight against acute oxygen loss with an affordable, and easy-to-use solution.
• Synthera AI builds an AI Synthetic Data Platform for financial markets, enabling realistic simulations for understanding market complexities.
• VundaHaus develops off-site manufactured insulation systems for homes, offering affordability and quick installation with intelligent materials and design.

More information

Find out more about the details of the competition below.

Meet the 2024 Judges

As the countdown to the Competition final begins, we are delighted to introduce the distinguished panel of Judges. Each is renowned for their contributions to the world of business and innovation, and their insights will determine the next wave of entrepreneurial success. 

Robert Cashmore MBE (2007) is Octopus Investments’ Director for the Middle East, leading Octopus’ relationships across all asset classes with Middle Eastern investors. Prior to Octopus, Robert was a senior British diplomat specialising in Gulf investment into the UK. He spent four years as the UK Government’s Head of Investment for Saudi Arabia, based in Riyadh, and two years as the Director for Investment Middle East, based in the UAE, during which time he played a leading role in securing the £10bn UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership. He received an MBE in the 2020 Queen’s Honours for services to UK Trade and Investment. Prior to Government, Robert spent five years in the City of London working for a number of investment banks, including UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Robert holds degrees from the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

Ian Chapman-Banks is the CEO & Co-Founder of SQREEM Technologies. SQREEM is a next-generation AI company specializing in understanding and predicting human behaviour. A Scientist & Coder, he holds an MBA from Chicago Booth School of Business and pursued a Masters in Entrepreneurship at Wolfson College, Cambridge. With a background in senior leadership roles at Apple, Microsoft, and Dell, he previously served as CEO of a US$4bn business at Motorola Asia Pacific. Ian has led four major exits, including delisting a leading Singapore Semiconductor company from NASDAQ and selling it for over US$4bn. He also successfully listed a Chinese lottery company on the London Exchange with a valuation exceeding US$500m and sold an MVNO to Rakuten in Japan. Notably, Ian was the runner-up for Young Business Person of The Year in the UK during his student years for his specialist Farmhouse Cheese & Wine business.

Dr Elise Jenkins co-founded Opto Biosystems with Wolfson alumnus Dr Ben Woodington. Opto are rewiring cancer treatment, using minimally invasive, implantable neuro-technologies. Elise holds an academic background in electrical engineering and a PhD from Cambridge University in bioelectronics/neuro-oncology, as well as an industrial background in engineering design (AECOM) and Product (Siemens). Opto Biosystems won the Wolfson Entrepreneurship Competition 2022 and publicly launched with £1.85M in venture funding in April 2023. In September 2023, Elise won the Cambridge Judge Business School Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award. 

Omar Majid (2018) is co-founder and Head of Sustainability of Salonica Capital, an investment advisory firm, and recently launched Salonica Maroon, a social impact private equity fund that focuses on investing in diversity. Omar previously worked at RBS Markets & International Banking. He is an alumnus of Wolfson, and did an MSt in Sustainable Leadership at the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership.

Michael O’Sullivan (1984) has extensive executive and international experience, having held the Chief Executive positions of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, the Cambridge Commonwealth, European, and Overseas Trust, as well as Cambridge Assessment International Education. He received his MPhil from Cambridge ('85) and BA from Oxford ('82), and was made Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George ('08). He is now an international education consultant and Wolfson College Fellow. 

Dr Evelyn Tichy (2009) is an alumna of Wolfson and Head of Business at 21Dx GmbH, a German Organisation working to close gaps in care and improve services in the health and social sectors. She is an entrepreneur and supports and mentors early career individuals. 

Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu is currently Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London. Her pioneering work on the mechanisms of drug transport have led to the development of new treatments which promise to transform pain relief, including the enkephalin pain medicine candidate (EnveltaÔ), designed to address the opioid crisis. Her work has won her numerous awards, fellowships and accolades, and she holds positions on several academic boards and councils including the Wellcome Trust, the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. She has also played a leading role during her time at UCL as Pro Vice Provost for Africa and the Middle East, in forging new research partnerships in those regions and as UCL’s Provost’s Envoy for Race Equality, steering the organisation’s race equality agenda. She will succeed current Wolfson President, Professor Jane Clarke, on 1 October 2024 to become Wolfson's seventh President. 

Dr Jerry Wu is the Head of Investment at TusPark Holdings UK, which is a science and technology service corporation with an investment arm as a venture capital and private equity group fund. TusPark has invested £220m+ in Cambridge since 2018. Being an innovator and investor, he is always enthusiastic to push the boundaries, drive the innovation, and foster the collaborative network among stakeholders; being a scientist, he brings 24+ years of experience in research and development covering life sciences and deep technologies; being a leader, he is a passionate believer in the importance of personal development and in helping others to achieve their full potential; being a boy, his first ever computer was an Apple II Plus. 

Carol Yuen (2022)  is a 3rd generation banker with over 20 years of international financial experience. Carol founded the Alpha Grand Group in Hong Kong in 2017. Prior to founding Alpha Grand Group, Carol held senior positions with a number of international financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered, Citigroup and HSBC Group. Carol has diversified experience in the international financial sector. She has worked in areas including commercial banking; treasury products and structuring in forex, interest rates, commodities, equities; private banking and investment banking. After having accumulated years of banking experience, Carol further expanded into real estate investments and structuring bespoke life insurance policies for ultra-high net worth clients. She has completed over USD 35 billion worth of transactions in aggregate during her career. Carol obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University; a Master of Laws degree in Corporate and Financial Law from The University of Hong Kong and a Master of Studies degree in Global History from University of Cambridge. She was the award recipient of the Corporate Governance and Shareholders Remedies subject from the Faculty of Law at The University of Hong Kong. Carol is currently a Board Member of McGill University’s Asia Advisory Group. She was an ex-student representative and committee member of the Master of Studies program at the University of Cambridge and an ex-Board Member of the Faculty of Law at The University of Hong Kong. 

The beauty of little Cambridge is openness, collaboration and trust, where the entrepreneurs always find the kindest help in every corners to fulfill their dream. Wolfson's Entrepreneurship Hub is such an excellent example to incubate our next generation leaders by working with various stakeholders.

Dr Jerry Wu, Wolfson Entrepreneurship Competition 2024 Judge

Meet the 2024 Sponsors

In addition to the Judges, we express our heartfelt gratitude to all our Sponsors and Donors whose generosity demonstrates not only support for Wolfson College, but also a commitment to fostering innovation and empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Basck	Sponsor of the Climate Tech prize, and provided access to Aalbun Analytics Patent Landscaping Tool
Salonica Group	Sponsor of the Female Founder prize
SQREEM	Sponsor of the Global Health prize
Christopher Clarke (2017)	Supporter of the Overall Prize Winner

Our thanks also to Evelyn Tichy, Lucas Jiang (2003) and anonymous supporters of the Entrepreneurship Hub running costs. 

We need to do what we can to support founders and startups. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone but it's definitely an area where one can learn a lot from no matter which direction one takes in life. New jobs and purpose will come from new innovation and the resulting technologies.

Christian Bunke, Basck, Wolfson Entrepreneurship Competition 2024 Sponsor

Timeline

Start-up presentations may be submitted from the competition's opening on 16 November 2023, through to 31 January 2024. The eligibility requirements and materials requested for this submission may be found in the Enter Competition section. 

The Wolfson Executive Committee will thereafter review submissions' conformity with eligibility requirements and submit the full pitching materials for review by the WES network of experienced Judges and Mentors.  

Teams will be informed in mid-February of whether they have progressed to the final round. Finalists will have the opportunity to participate in a live event held on Sunday 17 March 2024 and present their full pitches to the Judges Panel, as well as to our audience - including mentors, investors, College alumni, and other members of Wolfson Entrepreneurship network.

Eligibility Requirements

All start-up teams must include at least one current University of Cambridge student, or an alumnus/alumna with a maximum of five members.

Eligibility criteria for Wolfson Entrepreneurship Competition 2024 are broad, and we encourage all start-up teams or aspiring founders with ties to Wolfson or Cambridge University to submit a proposal.

We are especially seeking investable projects; the most successful proposals will have clear value propositions, development objectives, and intended uses of funds. Teams which have previously raised financing may still apply, but those beyond the Series A stage will be ineligible.

Be sure to submit your Stage I overview by the 31 January 2024 deadline.

Enter Competition

Your competition entry will ask you to include the following:

• Company Mission/Vision
• Problem statement
• Summary of the idea/product
• Market size of opportunity
• Competitors
• Team & ability to execute
• Traction/progress to date
  
  Note: every idea is different, and not all categories will be relevant to every business. We encourage a wide range of companies to apply, so please adapt this as you see fit.
  
  The link to the submission form is here. If you have any questions about the form, please email networks1@wolfson.cam.ac.uk