Students win big at health tech pitch day
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Published
09 May 2025
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Pioneering new ideas were everywhere. At a Dragon’s Den-style pitch competition – with real money to be won – students proposed sustainable clinical gloves, carbo-rich power gels, and patches to provide real-time information on dehydration levels.
But it was the three-strong team of Gentle Start Innovation who walked away with the £1,000 top prize, part of a £3,000 pot funded by Engineers in Business Fellowship.
Carly Harper, Kelly Da Camara and Hajir Mohammed devised the SipSoothe Bottle and App, a smart infant feeding system designed to detect and address feeding problems such as excessive air intake, feeding volume and positioning. The product impressed judges with its clear scientific rationale, real-time feedback system, and potential to assist both parents and clinicians.
Second place went to XO-Gen, earning £750 for their ACE – Acetone Cardiovascular Evaluator, a portable breath analysis device that non-invasively detects cardiovascular risk using acetone levels. Third prize, and £500, was awarded to BioScan, who developed a cartridge-based food scanner designed to detect allergens through real-time chemical analysis.
These future healthcare innovators came from Medical Physiology (School of Health, Sport and Bioscience) and Biomedical Engineering (School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering), who took centre stage at Bühler UK, a plant that is a near neighbour of the Docklands Campus.
They pitched their business ideas, marking the culmination of the Business Enterprise module, challenging students to transform physiological insight into commercial innovation.
In addition to the top awards:
AquaBio received the Scientific Prize for their hydration-monitoring wearable for athletes, and Matchamotion was honoured with Best Logo, recognising their stylish branding for a sugar-conscious green tea sports drink.
Participants were assessed on four key pillars by nine judges from the University, Buhler and from the entrepreneurial business world. They were marked on:
- Innovation – scientific rationale and distinctiveness in the bioscience market
- Achievability – realistic business goals and development trajectory
- Market focus – clarity on customer needs, market trends and competitive advantage
- Financial viability – a credible path to sustainability and profitability
The seven student-led companies pitched the following ventures:
- Biocare Innovation – Sustainable, writable gloves for NHS staff made from corn starch.
- AquaBio Track – A Bluetooth-linked patch that monitors athlete dehydration.
- BioScan – A food scanner that detects allergens using sample cartridges.
- Gentle Start Innovation – A smart baby bottle and app that identifies feeding problems in real time.
- Matchamotion – A canned green tea sports drink targeting inflammation and sugar reduction.
- Power Gel – An additive-free gel sachet with enhanced carbohydrate content for athletes.
- XO-Gen – A portable breathalyser for early cardiovascular disease detection.
Dr Mohammed Meah, Course Leader for Medical Physiology and Human Biology, praised the creativity and entrepreneurial acumen displayed by the student teams.
He said,
I’m incredibly proud of our students. Every idea presented was scientifically grounded, commercially ambitious, and truly inspiring.”
“This competition pushes students beyond the classroom, giving them hands-on experience of applying physiology to solve real-world challenges. That’s what this module is all about – turning academic knowledge into impactful, entrepreneurial action to solve real health problems.”
The Business Enterprise competition has been running since 2010, and in the early years featured only Monopoly money and chocolate as prizes. Now it is an integral part of the careers first calendar at the University of East London, which last month won both the University of the Year and the Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Award at the inaugural Academic Employability Awards.
Find out more about studying Medical Physiology or Biomedical Engineering at UEL.