The response to the 2019 Postdoc Business Plan Competition (sponsored by Taylor VintersHardcastle Burton) has been outstanding.

Having read through all of the plans, we are happy to report that the quality of entries for 2019 has been particularly impressive. A big thank you to all those who have participated!

It is our pleasure, therefore, to announce that the 12 semi-finalists for 2019 are:

  • Mojtaba Abdi Jalebi (Department of Physics) with project MiniPV
  • Abdul Alzahrani (Department of Engineering) with project PARTIsense
  • Simon Baker (Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics) with project Versed AI
  • Jessica Iegre (Department of Chemistry) with project Pep2Smart
  • Freya Jephcott (Department of Veterinary Medicine) with project Univursa
  • Isaac Johnson (Cancer Research UK – Cambridge Institute) with project BioVox
  • Geoff Macintyre (Cancer Research UK – Cambridge Institute) with project Pinpoint Oncology
  • Leonard Ng (Department of Engineering) with project Inkling
  • Arnas Palaima (Department of Geography) with project Eco-Innovator
  • Chris Proctor (Department of Engineering) with project Cambridge Bioelectronics
  • Marta Serrani (Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology) with project Polivalve
  • Yichuan Zhang (Department of Engineering) with project DeepInf

The semi-finalists and their projects will now advance to the next phase of the competition. Postdocs will be matched with a seasoned mentor from Cambridge Enterprise’s network of experts. Each will have three one-to-one meetings with their mentor to help develop key business skills and hone their business plans.

Up to six finalists shall then go on to compete at the Grand Finale event, taking place on Thursday 31 October 2019, pitching their business plans to a panel of judges who are experts in spin-out investment. Three prizes will be awarded: £20,000, £10,000 and £5,000 in funding. The first and second place prizes are sponsored by Cambridge Enterprise, with the third prize sponsored by our sister organisation, Cambridge Innovation Capital.

The first place winner will also have the opportunity to pitch at the next Cambridge Enterprise Venture Partners dinner, an investor forum of venture capitalists and business angels with more than £4 billion of funds under management by members.

On to the finale!