ThioTech

Sustainable sulfur containing technologies for capturing toxic metal compounds
 
2024 Environment winner

ThioTech utilise the low-cost and abundant industrial waste product, elemental sulfur, combined with sustainably sourced chemicals, to make high sulfur content materials that can be used as next-generation absorbents to remove toxic metal residues from water, oil, and gas, thereby preventing environmental release and contamination, potentially outperforming incumbent technologies.

www.thiotech.co.uk

“The competition was really stiff, everybody in there deserved it, and I'm really honoured and also emboldened to see that finally a panel of true experts value the technology as much as we do. It's incredible, and that really gives us the motivation to go forward.”

Liam Dodd, Chief Operating Officer, ThioTech Ltd
 

PlantSea

Plastic-free water-soluble films to replace PVOH for packaging applications

 
2025 Environment winner
LinkedIn

Plantsea have developed a unique and scalable seaweed biorefining process to produce a new raw material to replace PVA/PVOH for the encapsulation of laundry detergents and chemicals. The product is cost comparative with PVOH, elastic, heat sealable, has a long shelf life, and is compliant with dissolution standards.

 

https://plantsea.co.uk/  

 

“The standard of competition, the technologies that everybody's working on this year are so incredible, so amazing, so we’re really grateful, and a bit in shock. The prestige is immense for us. We're currently going through an investment round, so hopefully it's something that really helps us finish off. And of course, the cash is always super helpful for a startup company. It’ll help with legal fees, as we'd like to file a couple more patents, and we're now doing some more commercial deals with some potential customers, but also it will fund some key trials that we need to do.”

Alex Newnes, CTO and Co-Founder, Plantsea
 
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Cardiff Catalysis Institute

Hydro-Oxy: in-situ hydrogen peroxide synthesis for sustainable chemical production
2025 Enabling Technologies winner
LinkedIn

Hydro-Oxy is a new innovative catalytic technology decoupling chemical synthesis from industrial hydrogen peroxide production. Generating hydrogen peroxide in-situ, we can achieve significant improvements in process intensification, safety and efficiency, reducing environmental impact and lowering manufacturing costs, whilst rivalling the performance metrics of the state-of-the-art industrial processes.   

 

 

 

“We’re absolutely flabbergasted. This is recognition of this technology and over 20 years of hard work from previous students and members of the team – it’s fantastic. The first thing is the recognition for such a prestigious award from the RSC. This will allow us to have very meaningful conversations and give us that clout, to show that we know what we’re doing and that we are a big players in this field.”

Richard Lewis, Entrepreneurial Lead, Hydro-Oxy (Cardiff Catalysis Institute)
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University of Liverpool

Synthetic Teixobactins: multitargeting antibiotics to combat resistant superbugs
 
2025 Health winner
LinkedIn

The Univeristy of Liverpool have pioneered a robust, scalable, and automated synthetic platform to develop a new class of antibiotics—synthetic teixobactins. These antibiotics effectively eliminate drug-resistant bacterial pathogens without detectable resistance. Leveraging cost-effective components, our technology offers a compelling solution to antimicrobial resistance, potentially saving millions of lives around the world.

 

https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/people/ishwar-singh


“It's an amazing feeling. It was a very tough competition so I'm actually in shock at the minute that we won. This will have a huge impact for us in the sense that it gives us recognition, but also gives us a structure at the same time. We're already planning to open a spin-out, so this is going to help in the sense that I can free my time in lab and focus more on the business side of things.”

Anish Parmer, CEO and Co-Founder, University of Liverpool
 
 
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