A Canadian start-up specialising in crop disease management has won the top award in an international competition run by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
A total of 13 young companies will share in the £30,000 prize fund from this year's Global Innovation Challenge to help progress their businesses and prototype development. The competition is aimed at tackling some of the world's biggest challenges in fields such as sustainability and healthcare.
More than 500 pitches were received from students, staff and alumni across the university's five global campuses and its Heriot Watt Online education initiative.
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The top award went to Tayab Smooro, the founder of Canadian-based Pathoscan, which is aiming to modernise crop disease management with rapid and portable in-field testing devices to reduce farmers’ dependency on traditional lab-based diagnostics.
"We set up the competition to support those developing creative solutions to worldwide challenges," said Danielle Moran, enterprise manager at Heriot-Watt University.
"Tayab has the potential to transform crop disease management and we’re proud to be facilitating the growth of his and many other businesses through access to pitch training, funding pathways, ideas generation, business models and customer engagement.”
The annual competition is bolstered by a 10-week workshop series, with participation up 140% on last year. It is supported by Santander and match-funded by the Robert M Buchan Early Stage Business Fund.
Other winners included Thrift UP, which received the proof of concept development award for its virtual fitting room that uses a combination of artificial intelligence augmented reality to make online shopping more sustainable. Chief development officer Aspen Philips and her co-founders came up with the idea while working on their strategic management course at the university.
“As chief development officer, my role includes implementation of our development and marketing strategy," she said.
"The Global Innovation Challenge was the perfect first step in gaining recognition within the entrepreneurial and investment community. I feel grateful for the incredible experience, and we are looking forward to the resources and mentorship offered moving forward.”
Heriot-Watt Online student Annie Mamvura, founder of GreenGraceWear in Nairobi, Kenya, won the health and care-led business award for providing reusable incontinence wear for women and girls facing incontinence due to disability, aging or the menopause.
Five engineering graduates behind Dubai-based company SMEFA (Shopping Mode Effortless For All) received the audience award for developing a smart scan supermarket trolley to simplify and support shopping for those with disabilities and allergies with features such as automated basket lifting, secure payments and managing allergen checks.
Receiving a runner-up award, robotic engineers Aswath Ganesan Indra and Adip Ranjan Das from the Edinburgh campus are aiming to address the significant cost disparity between healthy and ultra-processed food with the creation of a semi-autonomous catering service. Powered by proprietary autonomous technology, GI Healthcare minimises energy, reduces food waste, and increases accessibility to affordable, fresh and healthy food.
"Heriot-Watt has a long track-record of supporting entrepreneurs along a growth pathway," Ms Moran added. "Previous participants of the Global Innovation Challenge have gone on to win key industry awards such as Rosie Bristow of Fantasy Fibre Mill, a winner at this year’s Converge.
"By connecting creative minds across the globe, we are transforming our international reach into an engine for innovation, tackling some of society's biggest challenges and effecting positive change across multiple sectors."
Professor Gillian Murray, deputy principal for business and enterprise, added:
"The Global Innovation Challenge is a fantastic demonstration of the power of partnerships and collaboration in driving impactful innovation. As this year’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai continues, this workshop series highlights how our global campuses and networks can unite to address worldwide challenges, addressing challenges across sectors and disciplines.
“By fostering an international innovation ecosystem, we can make meaningful progress on some of the world’s biggest issues, including sustainability and waste reduction.”
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