Edinburgh Innovations clients have scooped two of the four Scottish AccelerateHER Awards 2022 for inspiring female founders.
The winner of the Science and MedTech category is Ishani Malhotra, founder and CEO of Carcinotech, which manufactures 3D printed tumours developed from patient-specific cancer stem cells, primary cells and established cell lines.
These provide a platform for rapid, ethical and accurate drug discovery, screening and pre-clinical testing.
Ishani graduated from the University of Edinburgh with an MSc in Regenerative Medicine in 2017 and received Edinburgh Innovations support to develop Carcinotech, including participating in the Startup Summer Accelerator. She has recently received Seed Fund support from the EI-managed Data-Driven Entrepreneurship (DDE) programme and is in the current Phase 2 cohort of the DDE AI Accelerator.
Ishani has seven years’ experience in cancer diagnostics and stem cell research, has a certificate of achievement from Harvard Medical School on cancer genetics, has won several awards for her work with Carcinotech, and has formed a strategic partnership with Cellink to advance cancer model development through Carcinotech.
Robotic waste management
Xiaoyan Ma, CEO of Danu Robotics, picked up the award for CleanTech, Climate and Net Zero. Danu Robotics is developing advanced and sustainable technological solutions for the benefit of the environment.
In particular Xiaoyan’s team are developing a revolutionary robotic system for recycling and waste management to increase efficiency. Their robotic solution can reduce contamination rates while saving on operational costs.
Xiaoyan is an MSc student in High Performance Computing with Data Science, and has received EI support to develop her business. Under the DDE programme she has received two phases of Seed Funding, and has has passed through the Fast Track Executive Director and Venture Builder Incubator programmes.
AccelerateHER awards were also presented to Danae Shell, CEO of DIY law platform Valla, in the Disruptive Innovation category, and to Darcey Quigley, founder and CEO of credit-control specialist Know-it Global, in the FinTech, Data Science and Cyber Security category.
'Leading their fields'
The awards, organised by Edinburgh-based investment syndicate Investing Women Angels, were introduced by Kate Forbes, the Scottish Government Economy Secretary. She said:
These awards recognise and showcase businesswomen who are leading their fields in areas like life sciences and technology and demonstrate the clear potential for growth in Scotland’s businesses - I warmly congratulate the winners.
Each winner will receive a mentoring package from Investing Women Angels and the opportunity to take part in international market building missions to Europe, North America or the Middle East. Winners will become part of the AccelerateHER network and benefit from connections, industry contacts, potential funders and learning.
Image: Xiaoyan Ma (left) and Ishani Malhotra.
