911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ

911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s flagship women’s entrepreneurship programme, this year a collab with Queen’s University Belfast, celebrated the winning ventures.

, a soil regeneration startup from 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ, and , an innovative lingerie startup from , have each won first prizes of £15,000 in the WE Innovate 2025 Grand Final.

The 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ Enterprise Lab programme was this year run in partnership with QUB in its first collaboration with another university, and marks the launch of WE Innovate National, a nationwide initiative to unlock the power of women's entrepreneurship at universities across the UK.

I’d always been curious about entrepreneurship, but it felt far away. Risky. Like something other people did. Lu Afolayan Muju Earth

Muju Earth's product Aeropod is a capsule designed to aerate and enrich soil that activates in response to heavy rain, helping provide a climate-proof alternative to intensive farming methods. The startup was founded by Lu Afolayan, Yuchen Cai, Alex Clark, and Ocean Hu, all students on 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ and the ’s Master’s programme in Innovation Design Engineering.

Dainty Grace offers better-fitting bras for small-chested women using a more accurate sizing method, promising both better fit and a brand that uplifts, educates, and empowers its community. It was founded by Sarah Greer, an alumnus from QUB’s MSc in Software Development.

Ms Afolayan from Muju Earth said: “Last year, I sat in the audience and watched the WE Innovate Grand Final 2024. I’d always been curious about entrepreneurship, but it felt far away. Risky. Like something other people did. But that night I saw incredible women that I could relate to, some on my course even, pitching brilliant ideas with clarity and confidence, and that flipped the switch. It gave me permission to try. To be on the other side of it now, winning the Grand Final, is surreal.”

It was incredible to see ten inspiring women entrepreneurs take to the stage and share their ventures. Sarah Ranchev-Hale 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ Enterprise Lab

is a targeted pre-accelerator that supports the next generation of women entrepreneurs by helping them develop new businesses. It supports women-led startup teams through a six-month programme of masterclasses, business coaching, expert support, and peer mentoring.

Sarah Ranchev-Hale, Head of 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ Enterprise Lab, said: “Last night’s Grand Final was a fantastic celebration of this journey – it was incredible to see ten inspiring women entrepreneurs take to the stage and share their ventures. Congratulations to all of them.”

Expert panel

This year’s finalists pitched to an expert panel, including:

• Alexsis de Raadt St James, Founder and Managing Partner, Merian Ventures, and founder of WE Innovate.
• Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser DBE FRS, CEO of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
• June Angelides MBE, Venture Partner at Samos Investments and founder of Levare Ventures.
• Erika Brodnock MBE, entrepreneur, angel investor, and co-founder of the AI-powered coaching platform Kinhub.
• Nigel Toon, co-founder of technology company Graphcore and author of How AI Thinks.

The final also saw a keynote speech by Dame Alison Rose DBE, a former CEO of NatWest Group who led the UK Government’s Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship.

WE Innovate National

This year’s final also marked the launch of WE Innovate National – a new national network for women entrepreneurs, building on the success of 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s WE Innovate programme.

Five universities, including 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ, will join the WE Innovate National network which will run programmes to support 150 women-led teams each year across the participating institutions. The universities that will be joining WE Innovate are Queen’s University Belfast, , and .

If women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, it could add up to £250 billion to the UK economy. Dame Alison Rose

Dame Alison Rose said: “I’m delighted to see the WE Innovate programme now rolling out nationally, building on more than a decade of success at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ. It’s already had a real, practical impact – supporting over 500 women, helping to raise £40 million, and creating some fantastic success stories. By bringing together universities from across the country, we have an opportunity to scale this success and drive even greater impact at a national level.”

“The data is clear: women remain significantly underrepresented in entrepreneurship, with less than 5% of venture capital funding going to women-led businesses. Yet if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, it could add up to £250 billion to the UK economy. That’s why initiatives like WE Innovate National are so important – not just for driving equality, but for unlocking the full potential of our entrepreneurial economy.” 

Runners up

Ten finalists from 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ and QUB received a share of a WE Innovate 2025 £60,000 prize fund to develop the ventures.

911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ:

• 2^nd – (£7k) – a super-plaster to accelerate healing.
• 3^rd – (£5k) – continuous hormone monitoring for women undergoing IVF.
• 4^th – (£1.5k) – an all-in-one orthopaedic care solution.
• 5^th – (£1.5k) – a tool for connecting live-event crowds to security and medics.

QUB:

• 2^nd – (£7k) – AI-powered personalised routine storyboards for children.
• 3^rd – (£5k) – A simulation-based solution for endoscopy training.
• 4^th – (£1.5k) – A mental health platform for patients and professionals.
• 5^th – (£1.5k) – An AI-enabled personal archive platform.

More awards

received the Lauren Dennis Award – given in memory of a pioneering WE Innovate alumnus. The prize is awarded to the team demonstrating an exceptional entrepreneurial spirit in STEM. The recipient will receive a six-month business coaching package.

received the Engineers in Business Award, which offers grant funding, mentorship and a professional CV package for entrepreneurs spanning engineering sciences. The award is sponsored by the Engineers in Business Fellowship.

Elyse Marshall of won the 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ Leadership Award, a leadership coaching package awarded to a WE Innovate team lead who demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout the programme.

From QUB, startups , , and Live Technologies, and founders Méabh McCaffrey-Lau of and Ruchira Rangaprasad of also received awards.

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To find out more about this year’s teams and their business ideas, visit .

Photos: 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ / Simon Jarratt