The Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE) Startup Competition
Written by Jenni Morris
As President of Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE), it was one of the highlights of my year to hold our annual pitch competition on the 26th of April, this time in collaboration with King’s E-Lab. The initiative also included a mentorship scheme in the run-up the competition, whereby each applicant could be mentored on the topics of strategy, pitching, legal, or intellectual property. The pitch competition itself, including coffee, lunch and evening drinks were held at the Judge Business School.
CUE is the university’s oldest entrepreneurship society. Before such opportunities became relatively common in Cambridge, the society was founded to organise a series of annual business plan competitions. Whilst we have expanded the society’s remit to include everything from fireside chats to formals, competitions still remain an important pillar of what we do. This event was the third and final competition during my presidency, following on from the Oxbridge AI Challenge and the Early Impact Competition earlier in the academic year.
The CUE x King’s E-Lab competition adopted a new, previously untested format. Unlike previous competitions, all valid applicants would get to do a short pitch on the day of the final, with no official cap on startup numbers. Having seen the number of applications, we maximised the pitch time to just three minutes. The final ran on the same evening as the preliminary pitches, with the five finalists notified only an hour before the final. The tightly packed schedule was designed to allow all startups to receive questions and feedback, whilst also allowing for networking over coffee and lunch breaks. The lineup featured a range of impressive of startups, from those just at the ideation stage to PhD students with years of relevant industry experience.
Judges evaluated pitches according to four criteria: problem and market opportunity, solution, team, and the overall quality of the pitch. The five finalists selected based on these criteria were all impressive but couldn’t be more different from each other.
The final started off with Cardiology Devices, led by PhD student Christopher Wall. Their MedTech startup is developing a device called MyoCaid, which offers a novel way to treat heart failure. MyoCaid’s design has the promise to overcome the limitations of current implantations for heart failure whilst being less invasive and resulting in fewer complications. This could be a breakthrough especially for older and frailer patients, who are often ineligible for current devices.
MenstruVive, a sustainable enterprise founded by Parul Chugh, Maha Waseem, Nga Chan and Leonardus Wijaya, addresses the environmental costs of disposable sanitary products. They are developing a novel recycling technology which recycles used pads into plastic and cotton pulp, significantly reducing the environmental impact of the products and promoting a circular economy. With backgrounds in biotechnology, social innovation, the team impressed the judges with their expertise and clarity of vision.
Rootd.Earth, a social enterprise founded by Geography PhD student Madeleine Ary Hahne, sustainability expert Annabel Collinson, and technologist Cherian Mathew, is creating the first global grassroots climate action platform. Whilst climate anxiety amongst young people is on the rise, finding relevant and inspiring climate action opportunities is an issue for many. Rooth.Earth uses AI-driven personalisation to match individuals with climate initiatives that align with their skills, personal interests and availability, aiming to mobilise people and resources for grassroots efforts against climate change.
Kalavai.net is led by Carlos Fernandez Musoles and Annie Wang, both MBA students with a technical background. Pitched as the ‘Airbnb of computation’, Kalavai sources computing power from a network of individuals looking to monetise their idle devices. By pooling compute from existing devices, the platform has the potential to make computing power for AI significantly more accessible and affordable. Developers who hire compute through Kalavai have the additional benefit of a no-code interface that allows them to easily employ AI/ML frameworks, integrations and off-the-shelf components for AI tasks, allowing for developers to more easily realise their AI ideas.
Finally, amidst this array of inspiring pitchers, the team that most impressed the judges and took home the £5,000 prize was Nimo Biotech, a startup founded by Rachel Dennison, Lea Abchee, and Ludovica Beraldi. With master’s degrees in Bioscience Enterprise and prior backgrounds in biochemistry and neuroscience, the team aims to transform diabetes care with a novel approach to glucose monitoring. By introducing a continuous glucose monitoring retainer directly to the back of the mouth, Nimo Biotech’s device measures glucose levels through saliva. They are developing proprietary mathematical models to overcome the challenges of low glucose in saliva based on individual patient characteristics. Currently establishing a proof-of-concept, their technology could present a breakthrough by replacing incumbent solutions with a much less invasive and long-lasting solution.
For running a startup - especially in biotech - £5000 is not a lot of money. It’s not enough to hire employees, and it may last them only a few months. However, CUE has always held that these prizes are worth much more than their cash value. The money, we hope, marks the difference between pursuing or not pursuing a business plan. It compels the winning team to work hard and relieves them of the need to self-fund early expenditures such as web hosting or hiring lab space. The prize essentially helps de-risk working on a startup for the individual.
CUE’s purpose is to support Cambridge founders and students with entrepreneurial ambitions. The committee is run by students, many of whom are entrepreneurs themselves. Based on the feedback we received, the strength of the unusual competition format was the fact that over 30 startups gained experience pitching in front of a packed audience and received feedback from an expert panel. Having so many ambitious individuals in one place made the drinks reception afterwards all the more stimulating. The gathering was a perfect way to close off a year dedicated to growing this entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The finalist teams were:
- MyoCaid
- Nimo Biotech
- MenstruVive
- Rootd.Earth
- Kalavai.net
Our fantastic judges were:
- Frank Tietze, Professor of Innovative Engineering at IfM, expert in IP, founder of ALPS software
- Babita Devi, Chief Strategy Officer at SKC Games Studio, Visiting Lecturer at JBS
- Mark Richardson, Patent and Design Attorney, Parter at Keltie
- Samantha Walker Smith, Patent and Design Attorney, Director at Keltie
- Emily Faulkner, Coach at Accelerate Cambridge, Clinical Innovation Lead at Cambridge University Health Partners
- Michael Grange, Coach at Accelerate Cambridge, Founder & CEO of Parker Veese
- Christine Martin, Head of Ventures at Cambridge Enterprise
- Gemma Siddall, Investment Analyst at Cambridge Enterprise
- James Hayward, Research Director at Cambridge Future Tech
Here’s what the winners had to say:
“'Nimo Biotech is developing an innovative, saliva-based glucose monitor, along with an accompanying app, designed to enhance the lives of diabetic patients. Our solution is non-invasive, discreet, and highly secure, hereby addressing a number of unmet needs raised by patients.
As we approached the conclusion of our MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise course at Cambridge, we seized the opportunity to participate in the CUE X E-Lab pitch competition. Alongside our Chief Scientific Officer, Paul Duquesne, who is based at EPFL in Switzerland, we presented our project for the first time. The experience was both enjoyable and invaluable, as we learned from the other teams' pitches and received insightful feedback from the judges. Winning came as a complete surprise to us but has strengthened our determination to continue developing and refining our product, with the goal of making diabetes management simpler, safer, and more accessible.
We would strongly encourage anyone with an idea to participate next year, even if it's still in the early stages like ours was. It’s an incredible opportunity to gain exposure in a fun and supportive environment!”
Jenni Morris
Jenni Morris is a recent Land Economy Graduate from Jesus College, Cambridge. During her time at Cambridge, she helped to relaunch Cambridge University Entrepreneurs following its Covid induced dormancy. She began as sponsorship officer, securing £7,000 to enable the society’s activities, before becoming President, where she spear-headed numerous new initiatives such as competitions tailored to impact focused startups and a co-founder matchmaking scheme.