Food-security idea wins Manchester bioscientists double honours
14 Dec 2010
The entrepreneurial skills of a University of Manchester team of early career bioscientists with ideas for food security have earned them top place in a national competition held at County Hall, London, on December 13.
The winners of the 2010 Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) competition are Laura Davies, Chris Cobb, Elizabeth Wright, Christal Fisher and Carmine Circelli, who are basedin either the Faculty of Life Sciences or the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences.
Biotechnology YES is an annual business plan competition run by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise and Innovation (UNIEI).
The team impressed a panel of investors with their hypothetical company Microbe Solutions Ltd when they presented their business idea for an alternative to conventional nitrogen fertilisers called Nitro-Pods® - a soil treatment consisting of enhanced naturally occurring nitrogen-fixing bacteria housed in a unique and environmentally safe pod. The judges were so impressed with their pitch that the team also take home the prize for best plant and microbial science business plan, sponsored by Syngenta.
Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: “I would like to congratulate the winners on their success. The UK is world leading in bioscience research and the 21st century will be the age of bioscience driving the knowledge based bio-economy, already estimated to be worth €2 trillion per year in Europe. We need scientists to become equipped to exploit the results of their excellent work and so help the UK economy to compete and grow.
"The participants in Biotechnology YES have had a brilliant opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills early in their careers. Translating knowledge into innovation is the challenge that we face, and developing these skills will put them in an excellent position to translate discoveries into social and economic benefits for the UK.”
It is expected that the future security of our food supply will rely on the translation of high quality fundamental bioscience research into new products and technologies. The team from Manchester have demonstrated that they have the skills to do this in their future careers, should they so choose.
Microbe Solutions Ltd made it through regional heats to compete against 10 other teams in the final, eventually going head to head with runners-up Aptatek from the University of Bristol. More than 100 teams entered the 2010 competition, with each participant receiving mentoring and coaching in business planning, commercial and marketing strategies, raising and managing finance, and patenting and intellectual property.
Dr Laura Davies, Managing Director of Microbe Solutions, said:“We feel very privileged to have won – the standard was extremely high. We’ve enjoyed the experience immensely and it has opened our horizons to the kinds of careers that are available later.
“We’d like to thank the University, especially UMIP (the University’s Intellectual Property company), for their help and support. We have learned a tremendous amount from working with them and throughout the competition.
“The team was put together for this experience and we’ll definitely stay close afterwards; who knows, perhaps there will be future business collaborations!”
As well as the title, the team take away £1,000, tickets to the Bioindustry Association annual gala dinner and the chance to present the winning business plan at the Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston, Texas, USA.