Vaccine storage innovators win Imperial's women-led startup competition

A student team developing technology to reduce the number of vaccines lost to spoilage has won Imperial’s competition for new women-led startups.

Sealeo, led by Innovation Design Engineering students Diana Epel and Emanuele Griccioli, has been awarded the top prize of £15,000 in Imperial College London’s WE Innovate Final.

The team is aiming to reduce the high levels of drug and vaccine spoilage in supply chains, particularly in remote areas where there is less access to cold storage infrastructure. They are developing a novel, biodegradable packaging solution which they say can maintain a safe temperature range for life-saving medicine for up to 2.6 times longer than existing products.

"We are immensely grateful to everyone involved in the programme for their support over the past six months and look forward to continuing this incredible journey." Diana Epel Co-founder and CEO of Sealeo

The World Health Organisation estimates that up to 50 per cent of vaccines are wasted globally, often due to issues around maintaining the temperature-controlled supply chain every step of the way. Sealeo believe their cost-effective packaging technology could transform life-saving drug and vaccine delivery in under-served areas.

Diana Epel, co-founder and CEO of Sealeo, said: “WE Innovate has been a truly transformative journey for us! Since day one, it felt like a safe space where you are not being judged but supported and nurtured instead.

“The programme helped us turn an idea that began as our master's project into a startup set to make a real impact in the world.

“Through invaluable conversations with our business coach, clearly structured workshops, and the support of the WE Innovate community, we’ve grown so much as a team and as a business. We often joke that we have earned a business degree on the side. It is such a rewarding and humbling feeling to see all the hard work pay off.”

She added: “The prize money will enable us to protect our technology through patents, moving us closer to manufacturing and pilot tests. We are immensely grateful to everyone involved in the programme for their support over the past six months and look forward to continuing this incredible journey.”

This year’s finalists pitched to an expert panel including:

• Dame Kate Bingham, Managing Partner of SV Health Investments and former Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce.
• Alexsis de Raadt St James, Founder and Managing Partner of Merian Ventures.
• Professor Mary Ryan, Imperial’s Vice Provost for Research and Enterprise.

The final also saw a keynote speech by Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities Anneliese Dodds on the value of women-led businesses to the UK economy.

WE Innovate expands

The WE Innovate programme, run by Imperial Enterprise Lab, is a targeted pre-accelerator which aims to support the next generation of women entrepreneurs and help them develop new businesses.

Women entrepreneurs often face barriers when growing their businesses, such as limited access to finance, networks and business support. For example, women-led businesses received less than 2% of venture capital funding in the UK in 2023.

"We have seen [WE Innovate] grow from quite humble beginnings to the programme we have today which I think we can safely say is a world-leading programme for women innovators and entrepreneurs." Professor Mary Ryan Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise)

Now in its tenth year, WE Innovate has supported more than 60 women-led startups with help to grow their businesses, including coaching, mentoring, and business skills masterclasses. Teams from the programme have gone on to raise more than £37.5 million in external funding.

After a successful first decade, WE Innovate is now opening its doors to new sponsors to develop plans to expand the programme to all corners of the UK and create a national WE Innovate network.

It is hoped that WE Innovate can have even more impact in supporting women-led startups by expanding beyond London to a further six regions across the UK.

You can find out more on how to join WE Innovate as a sponsor here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/Stories/we-innovate-sponsorship/

Speaking at the event, Professor Ryan said: “This year is a very special year as we mark 10 years of WE Innovate. We have seen the programme grow from quite humble beginnings to the programme we have today which I think we can safely say is a world-leading programme for women innovators and entrepreneurs.

“In 2018, 1 per cent of all venture capital funding went to women teams. It has got a little bit better, but in 2024, it is still below 5 per cent – so there is a lot of work for all of us to do. WE Innovate is part of that work and Imperial is committed to continuing this support.”

She added: “We know that when teams have diversity of thought, you get more creativity and better outcomes, you get more scalable and more accepted solutions.

“As an organisation that cares about impact, it is natural that we also care about diversity of thought. We know that both opportunities and barriers are not spread equally - it is our job to try to fix that.”

Runners up

Sensyre, founded by Innovation Design Engineering student Sade Heino and Global Innovation Design student Samantha Clarke, was awarded second prize of £7,000 for its technological medical intervention to tackle treatment and recovery after injury for athletes.

The third prize of £5,000 was awarded to Pera, founded by Innovation Design Engineering students Maria Asif, Hanju Seo, Alexander Spencer and Sven Winkler von Stiernhielm. The team is developing a wearable device that could help make life easier for people with bowel incontinence by predicting bowel movements.

Further runners up, each awarded £1,500, were Hi-Fond, led by Management student Alvia Shadqah, and BIA, led by Global Innovation Design student Vedika Lall.

More awards

Arcus received the Lauren Dennis Award – given in memory of a pioneering WE Innovate alumnus. The prize is awarded to the team demonstrating an exceptional entrepreneurial spirit in STEM. The recipient will receive a six-month business coaching package.

Transpexa and Qualboat received the Engineers in Business Award, which offers £1,500 in grant funding for each winner, mentorship and a professional CV package for entrepreneurs spanning engineering sciences. The award is sponsored by the Engineers in Business Fellowship.

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To find out more about this year’s teams and their business ideas, visit the Imperial Enterprise Lab.