An Entrepreneurs’ Showcase
“The Catalyst programme is a game changer for businesses seeking a solid foundation to build a strong company around an idea they are passionate about. The quality of the mentors, along with the targeted support on building a go-to-market strategy is excellent. It provides companies with practical learnings that can be applied throughout their growth journey for years to come.”
Ngozi Chinye, Founder Soter Software, on completing Southampton Science Park’s Catalyst business support programme.
Ngozi joined Catalyst this spring to support her early stage business venture: a platform to equip process safety engineers with advanced hazard and operability data for increased efficiency and effectiveness.
This iteration of the Catalyst programme culminated with a showcase event on 28th July, when participant business founders presented their honed business propositions to a varied and highly engaged audience. Ngozi’s pitch won her the opportunity to take up residency in the Science Park’s Incubation Centre.
Her fellow peers completing this 15th Catalyst cohort were:
- Tim Crook, Dxtrus: who has developed an individualised, semi-immersive approach which improves access to support and rehabilitation outcomes for patients with hand injuries.
- Ivaylo Vassilev, Genie: who is working to scale its app-based approach to helping people with long term conditions and who are isolated, through social prescribing, education and support.
- Michael Bennett and Tom Wilkinson: a revolutionary concept that enables clinicians to reliably pinpoint the most effective drug for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.
- Salim Khakoo and Thejas Nagaraju, Kargenera: which is developing natural killer cell therapeutics to activate the immune system during cancer treatment and other diseases.
- Mehrdad Alibouri, NuoNano: an advanced materials science company with a patented process to supply high-quality, low-cost, sustainable graphene for lithium-ion battery production.
- Ewan Fraser, Richard Wills and Andy Cruden, SOLead Energy: a University of Southampton spinout with a low cost, environmentally benign approach to energy storage.
- Nasrin Khanom, Zer0 World: who is helping companies integrate sustainability principles and compliance into their operations through accessible and effective employee training.
Business Development Director for Southampton Science Park, Lucinda Lamont, reflected on the success of the showcase event and thanked all involved, programme partners, mentors and workshop leaders. She commented, “This showcase event proved to be an effective end-of -Catalyst culmination. It was an effective means to give participants an opportunity to reflect on and demonstrate progress against their specific objectives. The audience was very interested in what they had to say, asking excellent questions and making the whole session highly interactive and insightful.
"On behalf of the whole Science Park team, I thank all the business founders who threw themselves into the Catalyst process and wish them success as they move forward with developing their businesses.”
Find out more about the Catalyst business accelerator opportunity for early-stage businesses.
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