Emerging University of Strathclyde founders have shared £26,000 in backing at the latest Inspire100 showcase, alongside £150,000 in Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards to support research-led ventures. The event highlighted early-stage companies in clean energy, AI, edtech and digital manufacturing drawn from across the Strathclyde Inspire pipeline.
Showcase brings together 100-strong investor audience
Eight early-stage ventures led by Strathclyde founders pitched for a share of £26,000 at the Inspire100 event, held on campus and designed to showcase the University’s entrepreneurial pipeline to investors and industry leaders. The biannual showcase brings together around 100 entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders to hear pitches from ventures spanning clean energy, artificial intelligence, education technology and digital manufacturing.
Strathclyde Inspire is the University’s flagship initiative to help alumni, staff and students commercialise business ideas, providing entrepreneurial training and routes to funding and support. Pitching companies at this Inspire100 included ventures from the Inspire Accelerator programme, new spinouts backed by the University’s Industry Engagement and Commercialisation Team, and portfolio businesses already attracting investor interest.
Awards and judging panel
Founders competed for multiple prize categories, including the Santander Universities Awards, the People’s Choice Award supported by the RACS Foundation, the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award, and the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award for Outstanding Business Idea Research Paper supported by the Charles Huang Foundation. The judging panel comprised Alex Lusty of Gabriel Investment Syndicate, Leah Pape of Scottish Enterprise and James Reston of DSW Ventures.
In addition to the £26,000 in startup awards, Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards totalling £150,000 were presented to recognise research-led ideas with commercial potential. These awards, funded by philanthropic support, sit alongside the Inspire100 competition as part of a broader package of early-stage equity-free finance for Strathclyde entrepreneurs.
Startup winners
Winners of the £5,000 Santander Universities awards included Wastesync, ALICS and Netax Fightwear. Wastesync is developing a digital tracking platform to tackle illegal waste activity, ALICS uses artificial intelligence-powered crack detection to support infrastructure monitoring, and Netax Fightwear is redesigning protective combat sports equipment.
ALICS and Wastesync also secured Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards of £5,000 each, recognising their potential for scalable impact. The People’s Choice Award of £1,000, supported by the RACS Foundation, went to Netax Fightwear, reflecting strong audience support for its approach to safer combat sports equipment.
Founder perspectives
Netax co-founder Gabriel Kelly described the dual win as a validation of the team’s progress and a catalyst for manufacturing. He said: “Winning both a Santander Award and the People’s Choice Award is a real testament to the work we’ve put in. The funding will take us straight towards production and gives us real confidence as we move into the next stage of growth.”
ALICS founder Hamish Dow highlighted how the event combines finance with feedback and network-building for technical founders. He said: “Inspire100 has been a fantastic opportunity to engage with supporters, gain feedback, and build momentum around what we’re doing. Winning £10,000 will go a long way in helping us develop our software and take the business forward.”
Stephen Young research awards
Alongside the startup funding, the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards delivered £150,000 to research-led ventures connected to the University. The Outstanding Business Idea Research Paper award of £75,000 went to Philip Salter of Ureaka, which is developing carbon-negative cement.
PIERS-AI received £50,000 to advance its work, while £25,000 was awarded to financial communications company ReadBetween, run by Dr James Bowden and Professor Mark Cummins. These awards sit within a wider Stephen Young funding portfolio that has previously backed Strathclyde spinouts and research teams across disciplines, with earlier rounds distributing six-figure sums to Outstanding Business Idea Research Papers and startup awards.
Strathclyde Inspire leadership view
Fiona Ireland, Head of Entrepreneurship Strategy at Strathclyde Inspire, positioned Inspire100 as a key inflection point in the University’s venture pipeline. She said: “Inspire100 is a critical point in our venture pipeline – where early ideas are tested, refined and connected to the people, insight and early-stage funding that help them progress.”
She added that the showcase “reflects Strathclyde’s commitment to translating talent and research into high-growth businesses with real economic and social impact”. The event on Wednesday 3 June also featured contributions from Professor Stephen McArthur, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Strathclyde, and Neil Logan, Senior Enterprise Fellow and co-founder of digital technology company Incremental, which was later acquired by Telefónica.
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University of Strathclyde backdrop
The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow is home to around 25,000 students and 4,000 staff from more than 100 countries, with “useful learning” and real-world impact at the heart of its teaching, research and innovation. Working alongside industry, government and the third sector across engineering, business, science and the humanities, Strathclyde contributes to economic growth, job creation and social progress in Scotland, the UK and beyond.
Strathclyde has been recognised as Times and Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year 2026 and Daily Mail UK University of the Year 2026, building on earlier accolades including Times Higher Education UK University of the Year 2019 and multiple Queen’s Anniversary Prizes in 1996, 2019, 2021 and 2023. These awards, together with the Inspire100 programme and Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards, underline the institution’s strategy of coupling research excellence with entrepreneurship support for high-growth founders.
