Dr Chen Mao Davies, LatchAid
Dr Chen Mao Davies, Founder of LatchAid, an app that aims to help mums and mums-to-be learn and improve their breast-feeding latching-on skills in the comfort of their own environment and with individualised support to help them to carry on breastfeeding for as long as possible. The startup was previously on the Cambridge Social Ventures programme run by the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation at Cambridge Judge.
Dr Chen said: “The Women in Innovation Award is life-changing because it enables me to grow LatchAid full-time, strengthen my leadership skills, and gain invaluable support to lead LatchAid to its greatest success and impacts.”
Ruby Pillai, iWarranty
Ruby Pillai, Founder of iWarranty, which is developing a cloud-based solution to replace existing paper-based warranties and manual claim processes. Ruby is a student on the MSt in Entrepreneurship programme at Cambridge Judge, and iWarranty is currently on the Accelerate Cambridge programme run by the Entrepreneurship Centre at the School.
“The Women in Innovation Award will help us to deliver on our impact-driven mission to reduce per-person waste in the UK from 24.9kg to below 10kg by 2030,” Ruby said. “The award has been granted at a critical point in iWarranty’s journey, and we know it will add significant value in realising our ambitious vision.”
Nicola Filzmoser, Happyr Health
Nicola Filzmoser, Co-founder of Happyr Health, which aims to help children and young people manage chronic pain via storytelling and gamification. Nicola was previously on the MSt in Entrepreneurship programme and the startup is supported by the Accelerate Cambridge programme at the Business School.
Nicola commented: “We are excited that together with the Women in Innovation Award, we can bring our story to life to engage children with chronic pain in their disease management. Most importantly, I am excited to share this journey with fellow female entrepreneurs and be a voice for all those young people who need our support.”
Dilrini De Silva, Jāna Bio
Dilrini De Silva, Founder of biotech venture Jāna Bio, which aims to impact the treatment options available for ethnic minorities currently underrepresented in medicines development. Dilrini participated in the Biotech and Healthcare Venture Creation Weekend in May 2018, and was also involved as an inventor on an EnterpriseTECH programme, both run by the Business School’s Entrepreneurship Centre.
She says the award “presents an opportunity to play a key role in shaping treatment options that better represent people like me, my family and billions in the Global South.”
Amanda Solloway, Minister of Science at the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, commented: “As we build back better from COVID-19 (coronavirus), it is a priority of mine to continue equipping our brightest female innovators with the tools they need to succeed, while encouraging a new generation of women to come forward and pursue their ambitions.
“It’s fantastic to be supporting 40 of our most trailblazing female entrepreneurs, helping them to turn their innovative ideas and aspirations into a reality, creating the products and services that will help improve our lives and boost our economy.”