WE Innovate

WE Innovate – organised by Imperial Enterprise Lab, Imperial College London’s dedicated entrepreneurship training centre – is an annual six-month programme and competition championing women-led teams with an entrepreneurial idea to explore. Teams are supported with masterclasses, business coaching, 1-to-1 expert support, peer mentoring and much more.

First prize: PCOSENS

Project:

The PCOSENS team picked up the £3,000 Engineers in Business prize for their work developing a wearable sensor that tracks and records biomarkers relevant to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

Saylee Jangam (pictured middle), Bioengineering PhD student, and Sondes Ben Aissa (pictured right), Research Associate in Electrochemical Aptasensors, created the user-friendly technology together to allow patients to monitor their condition in real time and share data with their GP for personalised treatments.

PCOS affects one in ten women in the UK, and is the most common hormonal disorder in reproductive-age women. PCOS is caused by an imbalance of sex hormones which leads to irregular menstrual cycles, insulin resistance, and even infertility. So far, there is no treatment available on the market. If the symptoms are not tracked and well managed, PCOS can significantly aggravate the risk of other health problems, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Awarded: £3,000

Positive feedback

Thank you very much to the Engineers in Business Fellowship for their ongoing support, helping us with our mission of supporting women entrepreneurs in STEM. With this prize, we are able to expand the number of WE Innovate teams who receive funding and crucial in-kind support. This makes it more likely that they will go on to hit their next business milestones and create a net-positive impact in our society and economy thanks to their venture.

Camille Reltien
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Manager
Imperial Enterprise Lab