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TBAT launches 2024 running of The Innovation Challenge

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The TBAT Innovation Challenge has launched its 2024 edition today in partnership with its headline sponsor Shakespeare Martineau, with the top three entries receiving a share of £50,000 worth of support.

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With entries open from across all innovative industries, the TBAT Innovation Challenge’s previous two editions have highlighted just how much innovation is taking place in the life sciences sector. 

Med-Tech Innovation was delighted to be part of the second running of the challenge in 2023 and see so many exciting innovations from across the sector pitch to the audience assembled; including innovations across beauty as well as featuring a grill powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

The challenge itself is open to all entries, but the 2024 running of the challenge has shown the growth of the competition since its debut in 2022, with this year’s grand final moving to The National Space Centre in Leicester, where the top 10 finalists will be invited to pitch on the night of 9th October. 

Applications open on the 26th June and close on the 18th August. Before that, TBAT Innovation will be running four workshops on:

In addition, given the explosion of medical device and life sciences innovations, TBAT has this year created its own medical category to go alongside a general innovation category. As well as an overall winner there will be a runner-up for general innovation and a runner-up for medtech. 

This follows two consecutive winners of the TBAT Innovation Challenge coming from the medical sector. 2022’s winner was PhenUtest, with its chief scientific officer telling the MedTalk Podcast and the 2023 finals night how much the challenge has helped progress its diagnostic for Urinary Tract Infections. 

PhenUtest combines biochemical assays with imaging technology and algorithms and produces results within 60 minutes; containing a single-use sample cartridge and a tabletop instrument with the potential to diagnose other infections and bodily fluids. 

2023’s winner was Septest with its TRISEP system designed and developed to be accessible in any healthcare setting in any part of the world. It confirms a sepsis diagnosis and guide initial treatment options within minutes in confirmed sepsis cases. It won the approval of the majority of the audience as they were crowned the winners. 

Septest was among several healthcare innovations including Heartfelt Technologies, Xcience, Forge Genetics and more.

Sam Stephens, founding director of TBAT Innovation, expressed his enthusiasm for the Challenge, stating: "We're really excited to re-launch the Innovation Challenge and to be working with a great set of partners to support and stimulate businesses to innovate and develop. For many years we've been lucky to work with brilliant partners and clients and this challenge enables us to pull that network, knowledge and experience together, to deliver some real benefit across all areas of a business, so that it can thrive." 

Roger Harcourt, partner at Shakespeare Martineau, added: "Shakespeare Martineau is delighted to return as lead sponsor of the Innovation Challenge, which continues to goes from strength to strength. Supporting entrepreneurs with early stage and high growth businesses is in our DNA. It is our privilege to be part of the journey of the exciting young businesses that participate in the Innovation Challenge. Helping to guide them on their journey to maturity and watching them create opportunity, reward and, in many cases, ground-breaking intellectual property. The quality of the shortlisted businesses in 2023 was excellent and we look forward to being blown away again in 2024!" 

You can find out more from Septest in a future episode of the MedTalk Podcast. To find out more about the TBAT Innovation Challenge, visit its website.

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