外网天堂

The winners, announced yesterday at the 外网天堂鈥檚 iconic Burlington House headquarters in London after a nail biting final, are:

Cardiff Catalysis Institute

Enabling Technologies Category

The Cardiff Catalysis Institute鈥檚 new innovative catalytic technology, Hydro-Oxy, decouples chemical synthesis from industrial hydrogen peroxide production. It achieves significant improvements in process intensification, safety and efficiency, reducing environmental impact and lowering manufacturing costs.

Nanoplume

Energy Category

Nanoplume is scaling the manufacturing of Bio-Aerogel, which is a nanoporous, ultra-light biomaterial for cold chain and thermal insulation applications. Made from renewable feedstocks, it enhances energy and space efficiency whilst promoting circularity in sustainable thermal applications.

Plantsea

Environment Category

Plantsea has developed plastic-free water-soluble films to replace PVOH in packaging. The product is cost comparative with PVOH, elastic heat sealable, has a long shelf life, and is compliant with dissolution standards.

The University of Liverpool

Health Category

The University of Liverpool has pioneered a robust, scalable, and automated synthetic platform to develop a new class of antibiotics 鈥� synthetic teixobactins. These antibiotics effectively eliminate drug-resistant bacterial pathogens without detectable resistance.

A unique platform for innovators to gain industry validation

To achieve this accolade, the finalists presented to a panel of industry heavyweights from some of the most prominent companies in the world, covering both the science of their innovations as well as the market opportunities, their planned approach to commercialisation and potential impacts.

The winners share 拢100,000 of no strings funding and invaluable publicity to accelerate and grow their businesses. 

Dr Helen Pain, CEO of the 外网天堂, said: 鈥淥ur annual Emerging Technologies Competition celebrates the very best of chemical science innovation while catapulting exciting ideas towards commercialisation. 

鈥淥ver the last decade the level of entries from entrepreneurs across the UK just seems to get better and better. It鈥檚 truly inspiring seeing first-hand how chemists are working at the cutting edge of scientific discovery, taking on challenges from air quality to antimicrobial resistance, playing a vital role in supporting a sustainable future and driving economic growth.

鈥淚t was a closely fought competition this year and I would like to personally congratulate all the winners and finalists on their success - and especially for battling on through a power cut in central London which meant many had to pitch without visual presentations. Previous winners have gone on to raise millions of pounds in equity investment and grant funding, and I cannot wait to watch our 2025 winners go from strength to strength.鈥�

Held on 2 July, 24 finalists came together in London to pitch in person for the competition final. The internationally renowned panel of judges included representation from organisations such as Unilever and Johnson Matthey. After an initial application process, finalists were invited to pitch their innovations to the panel before winners were decided.

The competition showcases some of the most promising chemistry applications across four core categories. This year, entrants represented a range of proposals from tech innovators, start-ups and spin outs.

Alex Newnes from Environment category winners Plantsea said: 鈥淭he standard of competition, the technologies that everybody's working on this year are so incredible, so amazing, so we鈥檙e really grateful, and a bit in shock.

鈥淭he prestige is immense for us. We're currently going through an investment round, so hopefully it's something that really helps us finish off. And of course, the cash is always super helpful for a startup company. It鈥檒l help with legal fees, as we'd like to file a couple more patents, and we're now doing some more commercial deals with some potential customers, but also it will fund some key trials that we need to do.鈥�

Anish Parmar from Health category winners University of Liverpool said: 鈥淚t's an amazing feeling. It was a very tough competition so I'm actually in shock at the minute that we won. 

鈥淭his will have a huge impact for us in the sense that it gives us recognition, but also gives us a structure at the same time. We're already planning to open a spin-out, so this is going to help in the sense that I can free my time in lab and focus more on the business side of things.鈥�

Theresa Hoffmann from Energy category winners Nanoplume said: 鈥淲e're very excited, very proud but humbled at the same time. We're the only company focusing on energy efficiency within the energy category. There were so many other brilliant founders in our group that are working on world-changing technologies, so it鈥檚 definitely a proud moment. Of course, we are hoping that everyone will succeed.

鈥淚t's a very prestigious award. Getting this recognition from a jury of exceptional scientists and industry experts means a lot. I think it really validates that we're on the right path, both in terms of focusing on energy efficiency, but also shows us that the bio-Aerogel that we're developing to reinvent thermal insulation is a solution that's really technically feasible and also commercially desirable and economically viable as well.

鈥淲e are currently going into third party validation and certification, so the prize money will really help us to accelerate that and go to market quicker and kick off customer trials sooner than we planned originally.鈥�

Richard Lewis from Enabling Technologies category winners Cardiff Catalysis Institute said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e absolutely flabbergasted. This is recognition of this technology and over 20 years of hard work from previous students and members of the team 鈥� it鈥檚 fantastic.

鈥淭he first thing is the recognition for such a prestigious award from the RSC. This will allow us to have very meaningful conversations and give us that clout, to show that we know what we鈥檙e doing and that we are a big players in this field.鈥�

The competition provides a unique platform for innovators to gain industry validation and recognition that will enhance their visibility and attract potential customers, partners, and investors.. 

Since the Emerging Technologies Competition began in 2013, 76 winners have gone on to raise over 拢250 million in equity investment and grant funding. One winner has since been acquired for 拢28 million, while other winners have expanded overseas, entered commercial contracts and conducted clinical and industrial scale trials.