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Six finalists to go through to the 2023 Chris Abell Postdoc Business Plan Competition Grand Finale
Run by Cambridge Enterprise and the Entrepreneurial Postdocs of Cambridge, The Chris Abell Postdoc Business Plan Competition has become a key annual programme in the University’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and has spawned a number of successful spin-out companies including Nu Quantum, Porotech, Semarion and Xampla.
More than just a pitching competition, it features a programme of activities designed to help accelerate the creation of businesses from University research.
The 2023 Chris Abell Postdoc Business Plan Competition is sponsored by international law firm Mishcon de Reya, and has been another year of high quality, innovative entries. Thank you to all who have participated and supported the competition.
Six finalists have been selected from the twelve semi-finalists announced in August.
The finalists of the 2023 Chris Abell Postdoc Business Plan Competition are:
- FabFreq led by Elaleh Mostaani (Electrical Engineering, Department of Engineering)
- K-Stem led by Ahmed Elwaraky (Department of Haematology, Cambridge Stem Cell Institute)
- MiniCPC led by Molly Haugen (Department of Engineering)
- Mostli led by Ismail Sami (Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy)
- Oxonium Energy led by Mark Carrington (Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry)
- Semantics led by Kamil Sokolowski (Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry)
Since the launch of this year’s competition a little over five months ago, our finalists have attended business modelling workshops, received guidance on writing their first business plan and, as semi-finalists, been connected with mentors and participated in a summer programme of activities to support and accelerate their business idea.
Finalists will receive further presentation skills and pitch coaching ahead of the Grand Finale.
Grand Finale 2023
The six finalists will now compete at this year’s Grand Finale event on Thursday 9 November 2023, pitching their business ideas to a panel of expert judges.
Pitching live on stage to an audience of academics, researchers, postgraduate students, University staff, business experts and mentors, investors and others closely aligned with the Cambridge entrepreneurial ecosystem, finalists will vie to win:
- First prize – £20,000 investment sponsored by Cambridge Enterprise
- Second prize – £10,000 investment sponsored by Cambridge Innovation Capital
- Third prize – £5,000 investment sponsored by Oxbridge Angels
- Rising Star prize – £5,000 investment sponsored by the Women in Therapeutics & Medical Innovation Network (WIThMI) founded by The Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences will be providing investment to support a female applicant whose business opportunity is in the remit of Therapeutics or Medtech
- All finalists are offered one year membership at ideaSpace.
Congratulations and good luck to all the finalists. We’re looking forward to an exciting Grand Finale!