Women in Innovation 2021/2022 Success Stories

Our Women in Innovation Award winners all have very different businesses, but they all have something in common – they are making a huge difference to people’s lives.

Supporting inspiring women

Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Programme was established in 2016, after research revealed the gender gap in innovation funding applicants, where only 1 in 7 applications were led by women. Since then, the Programme has awarded 152 women with a total investment value of £7.6 million. Now in its sixth year, the Women in Innovation Awards has fostered a vibrant community of over 9,500 members.

With women entrepreneurs’ share of the VC funding market still under 2% and women owned firms receiving an average of 7 times less investment, these Awards play a key role in supporting, developing, and celebrating innovative women and the businesses they run. Equality, diversity and inclusion remain key priorities for Innovate UK and this is just one of the ways we are supporting underrepresented groups.

Find out more about how Innovate UK’s support is helping to grow these inspiring businesses:

East Midlands

• Helen Xiaoqin Ma| Anteam is modernising local delivery services for businesses and cutting carbon emissions in the process.

East of England

• Zoe Tolkien | Advanced Furnace Technology is shaking up cleaning solutions for semiconductor device manufacturing.

London

• Maud Millar | Adapt is transforming how students revise and prepare for exams, helping them to focus and achieve their targets.
• Reedah El-Saie | Brainspark Games is making learning fun with immersive educational gaming.

North East England

• Vijayalakshmi Subramani | Kerckhoffs Ltd is using innovations in VR headsets to drive inclusion.

North West England

• Nimrah Munir | QV Bioelectronics is revolutionising the treatment of brain cancer with an implant that delivers therapy directly to the tumour.

Northern Ireland

• Naomi McGregor | Movetru is revolutionising physiotherapy and how we analyse and treat injuries using wearable technology.

South East

• Anna Vartapetiance | Securium is boosting the online safety of our children with innovative cybersecurity solutions.

South West England

• Ying Lia Li | Zero Point Motion is developing exciting new technology to improve sensitivity in sensors.

Yorkshire and the Humber

• Jen Turner | JT Rehab Ltd is speeding up patient recovery time through innovative medical devices.

Finding your tribe

According to Anna Vartapetiance, CEO of Securium LTD, the best part of the programme has been finding her ‘tribe’ – a like-minded group of innovators she can use as a sounding board without fear of being judged or need to prove herself as ‘good enough’.

Naomi McGregor of TruMove agrees that a key aspect of the Women in Innovation Programme is the peer-to-peer support as well as the recognition the Award provides:

I’ve grown in confidence from receiving such a prestigious Award. As a young female founder, this exposure can transform my credibility.

– Naomi McGregor of TruMove

We’re delighted to share the success stories of our 2021/22 cohort, who have achieved great things since winning their awards.

The Awards were established to address the underrepresentation of women in business innovation and to encourage more of them to apply to Innovate UK’s funding opportunities. Each award winner received a £50,000 grant as well as one-on-one business coaching from Innovate UK EDGE and mentoring and training from Innovate UK Business Connect.

The next competition

We are launching an exciting new competition in Summer 2023, which builds upon the success of our Women in Innovation programme to support even more innovators with funding, one-on-one business coaching and tailored support.

Sign up to the Women in Innovation newsletter to find out exactly when and how you’ll be able to submit your application!