The Business Weekly Awards shortlist, unveiled today, precisely reflects why Cambridge and the East of England innovation cluster is rated so highly on the global stage.
Wherever one looks, there is world-class and influential science & technology or smart solutions to business or lifestyle problems conjured by a truly entrepreneurial community.
The 35 companies listed below are shortlisted in the mainstream categories of the Awards.
They do not include the new UK|China Business Award, the Kate Gross Prize for Social Enterprise or any of the four University of Cambridge prizes backed by Cambridge Enterprise and Judge Business School.
All these awards, including Cambridge Graduate Business of the Year, Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Academic Entrepreneur of the Year and Lifetime Achievement segments, are being judged independently. Put together the competition showcases the best companies and the top entrepreneurs driving this region to ever greater glories. The Awards build a bridge between industry and academia and between the UK and other key trading nations.
The quality of the shortlisted businesses in Startup of the Year, Disruptive Technology, Engineering Excellence, Life Science Innovation and International Trade is self evident. Most entries were received for Life Science Innovation and Disruptive Technology, which one would expect from such a Science & Technology driven region.
The behind-scenes judging process now kicks on and will take in a mix of analysis from specifically prepared reports to inside intel and news updates along the way to the official announcement of winners at the invitation-only presentation dinner at Queens’ College, Cambridge, on Wednesday March 20. Companies are now free to maximise publicity around their elevation to the shortlist.
It should be added that while companies chose to enter specific categories, they were clearly being modest about the capabilities of their proposition so Business Weekly and the judging panel have used their discretion and a large number will be judged across more than one segment of the Awards.
Judges will select a Business of the Year – a company with a real wow factor based on the last 12 months of trading activity – from all the categories.
Shortlisted companies
AlphaBio Control
Delivers effective low impact crop protection solutions through innovations derived from forward edge developments in the science of natural chemistry and biology.
Arm
From providing the IP for the chip to delivering the cloud services that allow organisations to securely manage the deployment of products throughout their lifecycle, Arm delivers a complete Internet of Things solution for partners and customers across the globe.
Avacta
Its mission is to shape the future of medicine by developing safe and efficacious drugs based on its proprietary Affimer® platform and by providing powerful Affimer® reagents for research and diagnostics.
Babraham Bioscience Technologies
BBT is responsible for the commercial development of the Babraham Research Campus which is distinct in its co-location of bioscience companies with the Babraham Institute, a world-renowned research organisation. The campus provides companies with laboratory and office space together with access to outstanding scientific facilities.
Bridge Fibre
Bridge Fibre provides award-winning premium fibre connectivity, hosting and telephony services to SMEs, larger enterprises, business parks and science parks nationwide.
Camcon Medical
Camcon Medical applies its revolutionary patented Binary Actuation Technology to any area of healthcare or life sciences with precise, rapid and low energy control of fluid and gas flow.
Cofinitive
A growing team of communication experts based in Cambridge with a strong reputation for co-creating impactful communication programmes with clients locally, nationally and globally.
Crescendo Biologics
A biopharma company developing potent, multi-functional Humabody® therapeutics in oncology with a proprietary pipeline focus on CB307, a unique targeted T-cell engager.
CyanConnode
CyanConnode designs and develops narrowband RF mesh networks for Internet of Things communications.
Domino Printing Sciences
The company is a world leader in hi-tech coding & marking solutions for a range of industries from food & beverage to the life sciences and personal care.
Evonetix
Evonetix develops tech that enables the parallel synthesis of DNA on silicon arrays to facilitate the fast-emerging field of synthetic biology.
Expedeon
Expedeon is an expert in cutting-edge innovative reagents and services for life sciences and diagnostics.
FlexEnable
FlexEnable has developed the world’s first industrially-proven organic transistor technology platform – the key to truly flexible and cost-effective electronics over large and small surfaces.
Fluidic Analytics
Fluidic Analytics envisions a world where information about proteins and their behaviour transforms our understanding of how the biological world operates and helps all of us make better decisions about how we diagnose diseases, develop treatments and maintain our personal wellbeing.
F-star
F-star develops genuine monoclonal bispecific antibodies that can bind two different targets at the same time, for use as “2-in-1” drugs.
Glyconics
Glyconics is at the forefront of diagnostic innovation, using infrared spectroscopy to analyse samples for proprietary markers of disease across a wide range of conditions.
Healx
The company’s AI platform HealNet enables highly parallel and large-scale rare disease drug discovery, significantly reducing time, cost and risk.
Ieso Digital Health
Ieso is the UK’s flagship provider of digitally-enabled and evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) available through the NHS.
KisanHub
KisanHub is helping drive a massive technology-driven shift in agriculture. It works at the intersection of precision agriculture, big data, cloud computing and mobile to deliver clear decision points to farmers and agri-enterprises.
LIFNanoRx
LIFNano Therapeutics is a spin-out from the University of Cambridge, progressing to a clinical stage NanoBioMedicine company specifically focused on targeted delivery of the biologic, Leukaemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF).
Luminance
Providing an AI platform for the legal profession, Luminance helps in-house teams with the growing demands of digitalisation, sweeping global regulatory change and stretched resources. Lawyers can identify exposure, focus their outsourcing and save significant time and resources for their organisation.
Microbiotica
Microbiotica identifies gut bacteria linked to phenotype with unprecedented precision in order to discover and develop live bacterial therapeutics and biomarkers.
Mogrify
Mogrify can convert any mature cell type into any other mature cell type without going through a pluripotent stem cell – or even a progenitor cell-state.
OKRA Technologies
OKRA is an artificial intelligence data analytics company for healthcare, allowing professionals to combine multiple complex data sets and generate evidence-based insights in real time to save and improve human lives.
Owlstone Medical
Owlstone Medical has developed a breathalyser for disease for the early detection of cancer, inflammatory and infectious disease and its mission is to save 100,000 lives and $1.5bn in healthcare costs.
PBD Biotech
PBD Biotech specialises in novel phage-based diagnostic technology in the field of veterinary diagnostics.
PhoreMost
PhoreMost is a drug discovery company, which engages in identifying new druggable targets for cancer and other unmet diseases.
PragmatIC
PragmatIC is a world leader in ultra low cost flexible electronics, enabling the potential for trillions of smart objects that can engage with consumers and their environments.
PredictImmune
PredictImmune is developing pioneering tools for guiding treatment options in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases with the first product addressing inflammatory bowel disease.
Priority Digital Health
Helps manage demand and improve access to the right services in primary care, well-being and community services through cutting edge digital products and platforms.
Repositive
The global exchange for genomic data is accelerating medical progress by connecting data providers and researchers.
Speechmatics
As experts in Machine Learning, Speechmatics provides Automatic Speech Recognition available in private or public clouds and securely on-premises.
Sphere Fluidics
Its novel single cell analysis systems offer the rapid screening and characterisation of single cells. These systems are underpinned by patented picodroplet technology, specifically designed to increase the chances of finding that rare ‘one-in-a-billion’ molecule or cell that could be an industry blockbuster.
Syrona Women
Two Cambridge entrepreneurs – Anya Roy and Chantelle Bell – co-founded the startup aiming to help women to detect early signs of cervical cancer and other gynaecological diseases.
Third Light
A Third Light digital media library brings together all your files, for all your people. Digital Asset Management Software manages your images, videos, and documents in a central workspace.
Zettlex (UK) Ltd
Zettlex designs and manufactures high-precision position sensors for measurement of position and speed, with a worldwide technical sales and support network.
