Entries are now open for the 2021 Armourers & Brasiers Materials Science Venture Prize, which annually offers one start-up company a £25,000 convertible loan or equity investment to support the commercialisation of Materials Science research or technology.
The prize was established in 2008 to provide seedcorn investment to support the commercialisation of innovative research in Materials Science & Technology. Previous winners have often had strong links to UK universities: 2019’s winner Kalium Health was a spin-out from the University of Cambridge, and the winner in 2018 was from Swansea University.
Winning entries have in previous years hailed from a wide variety of fields, and include antimicrobials, drug encapsulation technology, synthetic bone graft substitutes and toothpaste additives, alongside coatings for touch screens, smart materials that remove micro pollutants, and laser technology for real-time monitoring in molten metal furnaces.
The application must be on behalf of a project – and a project team – that is based in the UK. The online entry form follows the structure of a simple business plan, and the closing date for 2021 entries is Sunday 21st March.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to give a presentation to the Armourers & Brasiers Venture Prize Committee, which is chaired by Professor William Bonfield CBE FRS and includes scientific, financial and commercialisation experts. The winner will be announced at the Armourers & Brasiers Cambridge Forum in June 2021. This year, the Forum is very likely to take place online, on a date in June to be confirmed. The usual audience consists of researchers, industrialists and investors from the UK’s Materials Science community.
More information about the Armourers and Braziers’ Company, and the 2021 Venture Prize, can be found on their website.
