Post by Paul Riley

Last night's Ideas for Impact Awards at The University of Manchester brought together ten early-stage companies - all founded within the University - competing for prizes totalling £350,000, with a top prize of £100,000. The evening included reflections from last year's winners on the progress the prize money had enabled them to make, and an address by Stephen Wilson, who leads on global product and tech strategy for CMSPI, describing Manchester's past, present and future, and the potential within the University and wider city. Duncan Ivison, President and Vice Chancellor of the University, celebrated the science and creativity on show, and reaffirmed the University's commitment to innovation. I was there to support PhageCRAFT, led by Ryan R. Cochrane - a team I've worked with via the University of Manchester Innovation Factory over the past year on commercial orientation as they move from syn-bio towards real-world impact. Good to see familiar faces from the Alliance Manchester Business School too, and catch up with MBA students I have supervised on consultancy projects, who have internships with Unit M. Here are last night's contenders, whittled down from 178 entries! There were only five winners, but we should watch out for them all in future - they each have significant potential. (Thanks Matilda Page for the short bios, which I took from a post of yours.) 💡 Grid Stability – AI platform enabling rapid power grid stability risk assessment 🧬 Monoblast Therapeutics – Targeted therapies for treating rare blood cancer 🧪 SwiftCas Diagnostics – Rapid CRISPR diagnostics enabling faster, affordable infectious disease detection ⚡ Liatris – Sustainable lithium-6 enrichment enabling scalable fuel supply for fusion energy 🦠 PhageCRAFT – Programmable bacteriophage platform advancing next-generation antimicrobial drug development 📡 RadioVision – AI radio sensing system detecting and tracking drones on cellular networks 💧 WaterForge – AI platform automating global water management using satellite and climate data 📚 Learn Here Now – Platform linking everyday learning experiences with formal STEM education pathways 👕 Fibrametric – Automated platform measuring microfibre pollution from textiles to support standards 🧫 InViFlo – Microfluidic chips replicating gynaecological tissue for improved women’s health research It's an exciting time in Manchester; things are stirring. It was great to reconnect with familiar faces, meet new contacts, and celebrate some of the strongest emerging talent the city has to offer. Aline Miller Lee Pugalis Sarah Underwood John Holden Catherine Headley Ken McPhail Samira Kaissi Matilda Page Natnael Tefera Ellie Goulding Dan Healy Sahara Bhanot Kay Marshall Alexander Stokes, PhD Niaz Rayan Thanasis Stergiou Parsa Pirhady Masood Entrepreneurship Centre Unit M Nexcea | Life Sciences Consultancy Alliance Manchester Business School LanthaGen Bio Imprinted Diagnostics Spore Sense HalioGen Power