Mobile foot scanners to prevent amputations and a knitting app for the tech generation are among the ideas from five pioneering Scottish women who’ve been recognised by Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Awards.
These five entrepreneurs are amongst this year’s 50 winners of Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Awards, who are developing novel solutions to social, environmental and economic challenges.
Each winner gets a £50,000 grant, one-to-one business coaching, as well as a suite of networking, role modelling and training opportunities.
Coinciding with International Women’s Day, the awards reflect the UK Government’s ambition to give more support to female business leaders.
The entrepreneurs from Scotland are:
- Divia Bhatnagar, from Edinburgh, who is co-founder of Medical Intelligence Group, which has developed a 3D foot scanner to prevent and monitor life threatening diabetic foot ulcers from a patient’s home.
- Iris Quasar Grunwald, from Newport-on-Tay, who is co-founder of Nvention, which has designed a flow sensor device for a range of applications in the domestic, medical, agricultural and aquatic sectors, that regulates and measures the flow of liquid and gases in pipes and tubes, detecting leaks, blockages and contamination.
- Monika Tomecka, from Falkirk, who is a biomedical scientist and founder of UFraction8, which wants to help produce food in a more sustainable and affordable way through cellular agriculture.
- Lucy Fisher, from Aberdeen, who is the founder of Knit It, which is aiming to inspire a new generation of knitters through her platform, which features interactive tools that allow knitters to choose how they’ll follow a pattern, learn new skills and push the boundaries of their craft.
- Tiffany Wood, from Edinburgh, who developed the Dyneval device for vets and clinicians to accurately evaluate the semen quality of male livestock in dairy farms by measuring sperm motility.
Now in its sixth year, the competition drew a record number of 920 applications from women business leaders - 10% up from last year - reflecting the growing number of women-led businesses in the UK.
Innovate UK also noted that 22% of the winners are Black, Asian, or from another ethnic minority group, and 12% identified as disabled.
Bhatnagar commented: “Too many lives are being lost to diabetic foot ulcers, particularly in Black, Indigenous and People of Colour communities.
“With our remote patient monitoring tool using 3D technology and AI, patients will have access to the gold standard of care they need, when they need it, regardless of their location or resources.
“I feel extremely privileged to be amongst a cohort of amazing women to win this Innovate UK Award - and I hope it inspires others to follow in our footsteps and make their business dreams a reality.”
Emily Nott, head of equality, diversity and inclusion programmes at Innovate UK said: “Despite these challenging economic times, this year’s winners have shown great leadership, passion and resilience in driving their innovations forward.
“Innovate UK will work alongside them now to ensure they have the resources and support required to grow and scale their businesses, while encouraging a new generation of women to get involved in innovation, pursue their ambitions and transform our economy and society.”
Minister for Scotland Malcolm Offord added: “It’s fantastic to see such strong representation from Scottish entrepreneurs among today’s winners.
“Entrepreneurship is a powerful vehicle for growing our economy - helping to create better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country - whilst also helping to tackle some of our biggest societal challenges.”
Innovate UK launched Women in Innovation in 2016, after research revealed that just one in seven applications for Innovate UK support came from women.
Since then, it has invested £7.6m in more than 160 trailblazing women and convened a community of over 9,500 business leaders, ambassadors and allies.
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