Semi-finalists named in our Postdoc Business Plan Competition

We’re delighted to announce 12 semi-finalists in the 2017 Postdoc Business Plan Competition, which we run with the Entrepreneurial Postdocs of Cambridge (EPOC).

James T Griffiths with project Solaware (Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy)

Zuzanna Brzosko with project SixFold (Department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience)

Chao Gao with project RoboX (Computer Laboratory)

Curie Park with project High-Press Fibre Panel (Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering)

Carin Ingemarsdotter with project HIV treatment (Department of Medicine)

Askhay Rao with project Slate2Learn (Department of Physics)

Hanbin Ma with project AcXel (Department of Engineering)

Davor Copic with project Heat pipes (Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering)

Chris Williamson with project Flexypix (Electrical Engineering Division, Department of Engineering)

David Llewellyn-Jones with project Cambridge Authentication (Computer Laboratory)

David Fairen Jimenez with project Tarsis (Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology)

Roberto Mecca with project 3D Flash Light (Department of Engineering)

The postdocs and their projects now advance to the next stage. This includes three individual meetings with an experienced mentor to improve each of the business plans and help the contestants develop the key business skills they will need to make their projects grow.

Up to six finalists will compete at the grand finale and awards ceremony on Thursday 2 November 2017, pitching their business plans to judges who are experts in spin-out investment. The winning project will be awarded £20,000 in funding and the runner-up will receive £10,000.

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.

The response to the competition was even greater than last year with more than double the number of applications, and the field of candidates was strong. We would like to thank all the participants and congratulate the semi-finalists.

On to the finale!

Image: Runners in starting blocks