Top 10 finalists announced for the MSDUK Innovation Challenge 2017

Mohamed Hanslod CEO of Bri-Tek Technologies joined the company 6 years ago and has led the company to a brand that has a reputation for quality, innovation and growing sales in the UK and overseas. An award-winning company Bri-Tek supplies LED Lighting, super-efficient infra-red heating and voltage optimization technologies to the industrial and commercial sector. One of the few eco tech companies to hold 3 ISO's certified by BSI we have built a reputation for providing on time full-service solutions from audit, design, supply and install including financing options. Along our journey, Bri-Tek has evolved with the capability of developing innovative solutions. In 2016 the company launched a patent pending universal emergency battery backup specifically designed for LED Lighting. Bri-Tek emergency battery solution was designed and is manufactured in Bolton. Universal ,compact ,fast and easy to install, it's now one of the fastest selling products of its kind in the UK, with plans to release 2 upgraded versions this year. The plans going forward are to continue to develop commercially viable EcoTech solutions and build distribution sales.

Assim Ishaque Graduated with BA(Hons) in Accounting & Finance (Bangor University) and was selected to join HSBC’s graduate training programme. He moved into in FMCG sales and then business telecommunications, Assim established Envirup 15 years ago to provide energy management, low carbon and sustainability consultancy. He was elected as Member of The Energy Institute and gained registration as Chartered Energy Manager. Assim has advised on a number of large scale renewable energy projects in Europe.

Envirup invented its external insulation system (granted patent in 2015), winning two development grants and one major grant for collaborative research, chaired by Assim alongside experts on building fabric from Nottingham University, Eon Energy, Eurocell Plc – the UK’s leading manufacturers of building products. The Envirup system is a technological leap forward in the external insulation sector, being one of only two certified for use on brick, concrete, timber and steel framed (non standard) two storey homes. The complexities of current products are made in the factory for a quick and simple installation process. With our UK manufacturer preparing for a focussed market launch, targeting some of the 369,000 non standard homes, Envirup has starting discussions with potential manufacturers in the USA and Canada.

Reshma Sheikh is Managing Director of Octavian UK. She joined Octavian in 2014 having left a promising legal career, so that she could have the flexibility and freedom to spend more time with her children. Something her previous role could not accommodate. Being the ambitious/hardworking individual she is, she excelled within Octavian and is now Managing Director of the UK company. Octavian is an international provider of security, facilities management and more recently IT solutions/support, operating throughout the UK, Africa, Middle East and USA. Diversification into new markets and World-wide locations over the years has been a key driver for Octavian’s growth. As an industry security expert, following the Paris attacks, Octavian were approached by a Global High Profile Fashion Giant to see if we could provide a solution to protect their employees. Reshma was part of the team that developed – bSafe! - which is a bespoke employee travel safety platform app which delivers real-time incident response, carries digital images of travel documents and ID, informs employee and employer about troubled geographical hotspots, and provides an anonymous feedback tool for HR/ Executive Management. This app is an invaluable tool for all global companies with employees that travel.

Dr. Maroof Ahmed is a medical doctor who graduated from Imperial College London with dual degrees in Medicine and Business Management. He is the Co-founder and COO Digital Therapeutics which created 'Quit Genius', a gamified behavioural therapy app to help smokers quit. Maroof spent 4 years conducting academic research in the fields of neurology, behavioural change, digital health and smoking cessation. Whilst training to become a doctor, Maroof saw the impact smoking had on the lives of the patients around him and wanted to make a difference. So together with his co-founders, they put on hold their clinical careers to pursue Quit Genius full-time. The company has raised nearly $2 million in seed funding from Village Global VC, Pioneer Fund, Arab Angel VC and various angel investors. All three founders are 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe honorees in the Social Entrepreneurs category.

Syed is the Founder and CEO at Savortex Ltd, and a partner to the RBS Innovation Gateway. Syed was awarded Lloyds Banking Group, English Asian Entrepreneur of the Year 2015. His vision is that energy and waste cannot be reduced in commercial buildings unless pinpoint source data is collected from smart devices and converted into actionable intelligence. This enables informed decision making, cross-collaboration with suppliers, employee’s and stake holders across multiple locations for profit boosting insights and transformational business models. As the visionary and strategist behind Savortex's innovative product range, big data business model and transformational partnerships with sustainability focused multinationals such as Intel, Carillion plc and RBS. In that context, Savortex engineers have created game changing technology by combining British manufacturing, Innovation with IoT (internet of things) to produce a new paradigm of smart and revenue producing hand dryers, providing building intelligence, significantly reducing cost and waste in facilities, whilst improving hygiene, resource efficiency and boosting profitability. Under Syed’s leadership, Savortex has won numerous eco awards and been selected as one of the UK’s top 16 high growth Cleantech companies backed by the UKTi. The company, which continues to grow, also receives funding from Innovate UK to bring innovative technology to market.

Amit Pate is a Founder & CEO of Snaptivity, smart stadium technology that drives fan engagement and increases sponsorship revenue at live sporting events by capturing candid emotions and reactions of fans. Snaptivity uses robotic cameras that are triggered automatically by AI and IoT sensors when fans bounce and cheer or sigh in disappointment. It is a content-generating engine; by capturing momentum, it allows brands & teams to conceive meaning to the sponsorship & reach people at scale in a targeted, emotional and personalised way. The innovative technology of Snaptivity is backed by DIT, UK and Creative England. In terms of achievement, Snaptivity was named as a Top 5 SportsTech start-up company by Sportel Monaco. In addition, it has signed a multi year partnership with Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Wembley Stadium, the home of English football, a few leading Premier League clubs and are pre-approved at 8 stadiums for the World Cup 2018. In 2017, Snaptivity won the inaugural MSDUK Innovation Challenge.

Jim Shaikh is the CEO of Feed Me Bottles Ltd who manufacture the unique “yoomi” baby feeding range. At the core of the yoomi brand are the revolutionary yoomi self-warming bottles: yoomi warms milk to perfect breastmilk temperature in just 60s. Yoomi protects the essential nutrients that are damaged by overheating and keep the milk at the perfect temperature for the length of the feed, ensuring that baby is comfortable and drinks the maximum milk. With no batteries or wires the yoomi range is simple to use and fully portable enabling parents to feed anytime and anyplace.

Yoomi has raised approx £2.7m in equity investment since its inception in 2007 and launched the yoomi range in the UK in 2010. The business moved beyond breakeven in 2016 and now has a presence in 21 international markets including China with more planned for 2017/18. Yoomi remains an engineering company and is developing additional products based on the novel self-warming technology focused on the medical sector.

Jim completed a MEng at Imperial College before obtaining a PhD from Cambridge University. Initially an academic in London, Jim quickly moved into mainstream engineering with BMW Rover and then into consulting engineering. He completed an Executive MBA at London Business School where he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.

Karan Shanmugarajah is the CEO of WealthKernel, a provider automated wealth and asset management solutions to institutional clients and financial advisors. With a single line of code, WealthKernel enables wealth and asset managers to service their customer's digitality. Prior to co-founding WealthKernel, he was a portfolio manager at Barclays Wealth in London overseeing $500 million in client assets. He was a member of the North American Equity Committee and a voting member of the Selection Committee responsible for maintaining multi-asset reference portfolios across the UK and Europe. Karan has also worked in the finance industry in Canada and Singapore and is currently a director at a London-based charity that promotes entrepreneurship. He has a Master of Science in International Accounting and Finance from CASS Business School in London and is a CFA® charter holder.