Applications are now open for Catalyst’s annual innovation competition with £47,000 prize fund
Catalyst’s 2022 INVENT competition officially opens for applications today (14 February), with a £25,000 first prize up for grabs for the overall winner.
Organised by science and technology hub Catalyst with headline partner Bank of Ireland, the annual INVENT competition has become the premier tech event in Northern Ireland for early-stage start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs.
INVENT builds up to an awards showcase which will reward new tech innovations and proof-of-concept ideas that an expert panel of judges believe have the greatest commercial potential.
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Following the success of last year’s updated categories, the 2022 awards will follow the same format. These categories align with pressing and important global matters such as climate change and the need to reduce our carbon footprint with the Greentech category proving more important than ever. The categories include:
Greentech – Products, solutions and tech that enable a sustainable future.
Health and Wellbeing – Improving the quality of life through pushing the boundaries in life sciences, med tech and health promotion.
Product – A physical product designed and fabricated to offer the consumer or business a novel innovative solution.
Business Software – Computer software products or solutions used to satisfy the needs of an organisation rather than individual users, including innovations in sectors such as fintech, insurtech and cyber security.
Consumer Software – Consumer software is a class of commercial software that is sold directly to end-users as opposed to businesses.
Invent 2022 has a total prize fund of £47,000. Each category winner takes home £5,000 and the overall winner will receive an additional £20,000, adding up to a total prize of £25,000. Additional prizes of £1,000 will be awarded to the best student application and the best elevator pitch delivered on the night of the INVENT Awards, which will take place on September 1st at the ICC Belfast.
Speaking about the awards, Niall Devlin, Head of Business Banking NI at Bank of Ireland, headline partner of the INVENT Awards said: “Bank of Ireland UK is delighted to continue its partnership with Catalyst and support the INVENT programme. These awards showcase the very best in innovation and provide our tech innovators and entrepreneurs with a well-deserved opportunity to showcase their ground-breaking ideas and we hope to encourage and inspire others to follow in their example.”
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The overall winner of INVENT 2021 was Coleraine-based StimOxyGen. The company has developed technology that enhances the effects of cancer treatment by overcoming the problem of hypoxia in solid tumours. It uses oxygen generating nanoparticles to generate transient oxygen within solid tumours and has the potential to improve the efficacy of many cancer treatments and transform patient outcomes across the world.
Sian Farrell, Chief Scientific Officer of StimOxyGen, said: ““Anybody who’s thinking of entering INVENT this year, I would tell them to totally go for it. I had an amazing experience and the help, mentoring and support you get throughout the competition is second to none. It also gives you a great challenge of having to condense your story down and communicate in the most effective way that you can.”
Kerry McGarvey, Programme Manager for INVENT also added: “We are so excited to launch INVENT 2022 and to start accepting applications from talented entrepreneurs and innovators from across Northern Ireland. Invent provides a unique opportunity for early stage companies to showcase their ideas to the best in the business and we are looking forward to seeing what brilliant ideas come our way this year.”
For more information on INVENT visit www.invent22.co
Source: Written from press release.
