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Young innovators recognised in Forbes 30 under 30

Eleven UK-based start-ups that have received Innovate UK support were named in the list of business and industry figures to watch in 2017.

From:
Innovate UK
Published
2 March 2017
Last updated
2 March 2017 — See all updates

Elena Dieckmann, co-founder of Aeropowder

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. Cuvva’s 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

Elena Dieckmann with the other women in innovation winners

Media

  • David Benigson, CEO of Signal, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide hyper-relevant real-time content and news to businesses

Watch a video about Signal’s success.

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

See some of the other businesses we’ve helped.

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.

Apply for innovation funding.

Get involved in a KTP scheme.

Updates to this page

Published 2 March 2017
Last updated 2 March 2017 show all updates

  1. Added caption to photo.

  2. First published.