Cambridge award winners share their Women in Innovation stories

The founders of three Cambridge start-ups – Proteotype Diagnostics, Lambda Energy, and Easy Digital – were among the 50 winners of 2024/2025 Women in Innovation awards.

The 50 winners operate across the UK in sectors including revolutionary peat-free farming solutions, to continuous green electricity, to an AI-powered platform that streamlines allergy management in schools.

The Cambridge winners are:

- Monica Saavedra, of Lambda Energy, whose agritech company has developed a light changing spray coating for greenhouse panels that can increase crop yields by 20 per cent

- Emma Yates of Proteotype Diagnostics, whose platform leverages bio-orthogonal chemistry, which Innovate UK says has the potential to ‘transform the early detection of cancer’.

- Binhui Shao, founder of Easy Digital: Ms Shao is developing an AI-powered audio device that can provide seamless internet access without needing sight or advanced skills.

Dr Yates was delighted with the recognition. She co-founded Proteotype Diagnostics in 2019 and is now in the CSO role. The company is developing its Enlighten blood test and the £75,000 grant that comes with the award “will allow us to evaluate Enlighten accuracy in a statistically powered way prior to clinical evaluation in a future registrational cancer screening trial”, she said.

She added: “Enlighten is powered by a completely novel class of biomarkers which our early data shows has great power for cancer diagnostics and beyond.

“The Enlighten clinical trial is called MODERNISED. It is a national case-control clinical study, which will assess how well Enlighten detects cancer in 1,350 participants of known cancer status.

“Recruitment has started, and will see recruitment of 1,000 patients with bladder, breast, colorectal, lung, melanoma, oesophageal, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, and renal cancers. Preliminary results are expected in around 12 months.

“The Women in Innovation grant has allowed us to finish manufacturing validation of our laboratory kit aligning with regulatory standards. This means that we can now use our manufactured kit in our clinical studies, supporting their use towards our regulatory approval package. It also means that we are now able to offer a Research Use Only [RUO] kit to academic collaborators.”

Emma’s own experience as a developing entrepreneur has not been without challenges.

“The Women in Innovation recognition means a tremendous amount to me,” she explains. “It has allowed me to tell my own story, as well as Proteotype’s. Proteotype is a mission-driven effort between my husband (our CEO) and myself to impact cancer because it deeply affected his childhood.

“One aspect of this story which I haven’t widely shared is that due to starting a family and a company at the same time, I resumed some company work five weeks after giving birth to my son and didn’t get a maternity leave.

“In their very early days, start-ups often can’t employ their co-founders. This makes it challenging to qualify for maternity leave, and I think this is a disincentive to some women innovators who are inclined to also have children during this period. It is a lot easier to work for an established company. I think some reworking of the maternity leave employment requirements could reduce this barrier.”

On a visit to the company’s base at Babraham Research Campus last week, minister for AI, Feryal Clark, said: “Seeing the impressive work of Dr Emma Yates and team up close drives home the value of Government backing creative, women-led innovation to improve lives and grow our economy.

“While involving a simple blood test, Enlighten could have a huge impact in detecting multiple types of cancer at earlier stages.

“It is encouraging to know that research into its further potential for tackling these devastating diseases continues.”

Meanwhile Monica Saavedra, founder and CEO of Lambda Energy, is also a proud Women in Innovation award winner.

Lambda Energy works with technology partners at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry on advanced materials which efficiently convert incident high-energy (UV) light into lower-energy (red) light, a process known as luminescent downshifting.

Monica has degrees in physics, nanotechnology and a doctorate in nanomaterials (National Physical Laboratory). Over more than a decade in start-ups, her focus on novel sustainability techniques and a multidisciplinary mindset has resulted in solar cells, batteries, and DNA sequencers.

“I feel humbled and supported through our commercial success,” says Monica of the win. “With this award, we’ll be bringing sustainable paints to the greenhouse market by 2027, achieving 20 per cent yield increases through environmentally-friendly solutions.”

The daughter of a Chilean father and Italian mother, Danish-born Monica says of Cambridge “I found where I felt I belonged and never looked back”.

She adds: “The people made all the difference, town and gown alike. A startup attracted me to Cambridge, smaller than the one I was involved in previously. Applying my physics knowledge to building DNA sequencing platforms felt like I was going towards something meaningful. After that I joined an even smaller solar startup and then ended up starting my own.”

Of the challenges women face in today’s business culture, Monica says: “Getting enough words into a meeting driven by testosterone-rich men has been a challenge. Finding where you belong is crucial – turn the monsters that feast on your mind into superheroes by converting your inner chatter into constructive voices that build you up as you build your company.”

Any advice to aspiring innovators? “Mingle with other founders and join support networks. Focus on product development and increasing brand awareness through competitions and PR rather than relying solely on private equity.”

Dr Stella Peace, interim executive chair of Innovate UK, said: “The Women in Innovation programme is a powerful catalyst for change, not just for the brilliant women entrepreneurs it supports, but for the entire UK innovation landscape.

“By breaking down barriers and amplifying diverse voices, Innovate UK are fostering a more inclusive and dynamic ecosystem that drives progress across all sectors. This programme is about more than funding – it's about creating role models, building networks, and inspiring the next generation of women innovators to dream big and transform our world.”

Emily Nott, head of inclusion innovation at Innovate UK, said: “The Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards spotlight the UK’s most groundbreaking women entrepreneurs.

“This year’s winners have shown incredible leadership and creativity. We’re thrilled to support them in scaling their businesses and inspiring the next wave of women innovators. Their success stories will undoubtedly pave the way for more women to enter and thrive in the world of innovation.”

The minister for AI said: “From low-cost cancer treatments that could save lives through earlier diagnoses, to AI supporting our police to secure victims justice, this year’s Women in Innovation awards winners are driving forward an exciting range of projects that could improve so many aspects of our lives.”

The annual Women in Innovation competition, first launched in 2016, has awarded £3.75m in government funding to the winners of the competition to date.