Five women-led startups will compete for a share of a £30,000 prize fund in Imperial’s WE Innovate final on Monday 15 June 2026.

The finalists are building businesses to tackle challenges in areas including vaccine technology, epilepsy care and the destruction of “forever chemicals”.

The WE Innovate programme, run by Imperial Enterprise Lab, is a targeted pre-accelerator open to teams led by students, recent alumni and early career researchers who identify as women.

The programme supports 25 women-led teams through six months of masterclasses, business coaching, one-to-one expert support and peer mentoring.

The top five teams will compete to win a share of the £30,000 prize fund at the WE Innovate Grand Final Showcase at Imperial on Monday 15 June 2026 from 18:00 to 21:00.

Tickets are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

This year’s final also marks the second year of WE Innovate National, a growing UK-wide programme that has expanded the WE Innovate model built at Imperial to other parts of the country.

Alongside Imperial, Queen’s University Belfast, Swansea University and Loughborough University are each hosting their own grand final showcases on their campuses.

The four showcases are collectively contributing to a shared national ecosystem focused on supporting women-led innovation.

WE Innovate National is set to expand to seven universities next year, supporting 175 women-led startup teams across the UK.

AlphaVectors Biotech is developing a lipid nanoparticle platform to enhance the stability of RNA vaccines at room temperatures.

Lipid nanoparticles are tiny fat-based particles used to deliver genetic medicines into the body. RNA vaccines use genetic instructions to help the immune system recognise a disease target.

Current RNA-based therapeutics rely on lipid nanoparticles that need storage at between -20°C and -80°C and high dosing. This increases distribution costs and leads to significant wastage, limiting scalability, deployment and accessibility in lower-resource markets.

AlphaVectors Biotech says its technology can lower the need for temperature-controlled supply chains, reduce costs and improve the scalability of RNA vaccines for wider deployment.

The startup is led by Dr Apanpreet Kaur, an Imperial alumnus with a PhD in chemical engineering.

Epile-X, by NeuraVance Labs, is working on a platform that could provide continuous, real-world brain monitoring for people with epilepsy.

More than 630,000 people in the UK live with epilepsy, according to the charity Epilepsy Action.

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that can cause recurring seizures. EEG, or electroencephalography, is a test that records electrical activity in the brain.

Current diagnosis relies on EEG recordings in clinical settings and patient-reported diaries, which may miss seizures that happen during daily life.

The startup says its technology combines a wearable EEG with AI-driven analysis to capture daily brain activity and support improved diagnosis and more personalised treatment decisions.

Epile-X is led by Ester D’Alterio, an innovation, entrepreneurship and management MSc graduate from Imperial.

FluoroCycle is developing technology for low-energy chemical destruction of PFAS, breaking down “forever chemicals” at 10 times lower temperatures than current incineration methods.

PFAS are synthetic chemicals found in air, water and soil. Some studies have linked exposure to them to health risks including thyroid disease, reproductive illness and cancer.

The startup aims to make PFAS destruction more affordable by providing its technology as an onsite engineered unit, allowing customers to save on energy and transport costs while cutting their carbon footprint.

FluoroCycle is led by Amanda Fogh, a research associate in Imperial’s department of chemistry.

Waypoint is building a video game controller for visually impaired players to hear and feel popular games, including Super Mario and Minecraft.

At least 2.2 billion people globally have some form of vision impairment, according to the World Health Organisation, while estimates show around 43 million people have complete blindness.

Waypoint says only 0.001 per cent of video games are fully playable for blind gamers.

The startup’s technology uses computer vision and AI to read the game screen and translate key information into sound, vibration and touch for a fully immersive experience.

The founders say it is the first game controller designed to make video games fully playable for blind players.

Waypoint is led by Bana Quronfuleh, an innovation design engineering MSc student at Imperial.

Snitch is developing an accountability-based app that allows friends to cut down their screen time together.

UK adults spend an average of 4.5 hours a day online on personal smartphones, tablets and computers, according to Ofcom’s Online Nation 2025 report.

Young adults spend more than six hours online on average. Some research suggests excessive screen use may have a negative impact on mental and physical health.

The app allows users to join accountability groups and set shared limits across their most used apps.

When one person scrolls, the group’s combined timer counts down. The founders say this helps build awareness, encourage reflection and create small behavioural shifts by making screen use a shared responsibility.

Snitch is led by Asha Bakhai, a design engineering MEng graduate from Imperial.

To find out more about this year’s teams and their business ideas, visit the Imperial Enterprise Lab pitchbook.

Early birth may cut serious complications and stillbirth risk in high blood pressure pregnancies without increasing caesarean rates, a Cochrane review suggests.

Planned early birth after 34 weeks cut serious maternal complications by nearly half compared with watchful waiting, the findings suggest.

It also likely reduced the risk of stillbirth by about 75 per cent, although the authors said this should be interpreted with caution.

Catherine Cluver, senior author of the review and researcher at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital, said: “These findings give clinicians and women clearer guidance about the timing of birth when high blood pressure develops in pregnancy.

“For women with pre-eclampsia in particular, the evidence supports offering planned early birth from 34 weeks, and no later than 37 weeks.”

This Cochrane review, led by King’s College London, pooled data from six randomised controlled trials involving 3,491 women.

The trials compared planned early birth after 34 weeks with watchful waiting in women with one or more hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia, gestational hypertension and chronic hypertension, are the second leading cause of maternal death globally.

For women with pre-eclampsia, early birth remains the only definitive treatment, as the condition is driven by the placenta and will only resolve once it is delivered.

The trials took place in the Netherlands, UK, US, India and Zambia.

The review found high-certainty evidence that serious maternal complications were nearly halved in women who had planned early birth compared with those managed with watchful waiting.

The finding on stillbirth was based on moderate-certainty evidence and was driven by a single trial in India and Zambia, where stillbirth rates are higher. No stillbirths were recorded in the high-income country trials.

The review also found that planned early birth likely does not increase neonatal unit admission, although this finding was also based on moderate-certainty evidence.

The authors said the maternal benefit held across both high- and low-income settings, suggesting early birth reduces complications even when women are already receiving appropriate monitoring and care.

Alice Beardmore-Gray, lead author of the review and obstetrician at King’s College London, said: “Judging when to offer birth is the question that we battle with clinically every day.”

The authors added that in two of the trials, more than half the women allocated to watchful waiting ended up needing emergency birth before 37 weeks.

They typically gave birth just three to five days later than women allocated to planned early birth and often experienced more complications.

Beardmore-Gray said: “A common misconception is that by waiting longer, mum and baby are gaining more time, but often what you are doing is just delaying an inevitable emergency birth, when both may be in a worse condition.”

The review found high-certainty evidence of no increased risk of caesarean section associated with planned early birth.

Beardmore-Gray said: “That is the first question anyone asks when you offer them an early induction: won’t it increase my risk of a C-section?

“Being able to clearly answer no is a really important piece of information to give women when counselling them about the timing of their birth.”

The authors said the timing of birth should take into account the woman’s preferences and the severity of her condition.

They said these findings are consistent with and reinforce current international guidelines, which recommend that all women with pre-eclampsia should be offered planned early birth no later than 37 weeks.

Women with gestational hypertension or chronic hypertension without severe features may choose to continue with careful monitoring, with planned early birth considered from 39 weeks onwards.

Further research is needed on longer-term outcomes for infants born late preterm and on the long-term cardiovascular health of mothers affected by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.