Life Sciences Success at Venture 2022 Final

Venture 2022 is a new business idea competition for all University of Dundee Students, Staff and Recent Graduates. It is the final event of Entrepreneurship Week run by the University's Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Nineteen pitches took place online with the finalists competing over seven categories for a share of the £41,000 prize fund.  This year continued the slightly different format to the usually in-person event. Over 130 attendees tuned in online to watch the event from all over the globe to support their friends, family and colleagues. The 2 days prior to the live event, the finalists delivered 3-minute pitches to an external judging panel with a 5-minute Q&A. 

Professor Iain Gillespie, the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University, opened the event by welcoming finalists and the virtual audience. Iain then handed over to Brian McNicoll, Head of Centre for Entrepreneurship, who was the host for the pitches to follow. 

Through seven categories we saw staff, students and recent graduates from all schools across the university deliver their one minute pitch. After each half of the pitches, there was an audience vote to decide which team delivered the best pitch. Four iPads were generously donated by Converge and Johnston Carmichael were awarded to the business that the audience decided gave the best pitches. 

The winners from the School of Life Sciences were:

School of Life Sciences Student Award - £3,000 sponsored by University of Dundee’s School of Life Sciences

• Shravya Murali and Shreya Kashyap were the winners of the School of Life Sciences Award which netted their business Glucometre £3000 from the School of Life Sciences. Glucometre is a multifunctional application that aims to make medical help for those suffering with diabetes just a tap away.
• Dr. Dinesh Shah (CSI) was runner-up and given the chance to progress onto Elevator's Accelerator Programme to receive tailored business support to benefit his business and himself as an entrepreneur. His business, GlycemiApp will be a platform that will act as a hub for those wanting to improve their glucose control and hence health prospects.

Wildcard (All other Students/Non-research Staff) Award - £2,500 sponsored by James Keiller Investments and the Centre for Entrepreneurship

• Dr. Robin Pflughaupt (MRC-PPU) was the winner of the Wildcard Award, receiving the prize funding of £2,500 and £1,500 from the discretionary fund in the process. Their business CoBAlt (Copolymer Base Alternatives) researches and will develop novel performance materials for snowsports. Its primary purpose is to generate cutting-edge performance ski bases, particularly for challenging snow conditions.