Helping patients gain better access to cross-border healthcare, a climate and sustainability education platform and a tool collating global product recalls – these are just some of the bright ideas generated by groundbreaking Swansea University women.
The University is proud to be among the first partner members of the WE Innovate National network. Led by Imperial College London, WE Innovate National plans to run the programme every year to support a total of 150 female-led teams from participating institutions.
Now the first 15-strong Swansea cohort selected to take part in the initiative have been revealed and they have come up with a wide range of projects involving healthcare, AI-powered software, medtech and social impact.
Pro‑Vice‑Chancellor for Research & Innovation Professor Helen Griffiths felt it was particularly appropriate that Swansea has joined the network which will help it continue to encourage future entrepreneurs.
Speaking at an event to introduce the first WE Innovate participants, she said: “This is a moment that speaks directly to who we are as a university—an institution founded by industry, for industry, and one that continues to champion innovation, entrepreneurship, and real-world impact across everything we do.
“Enterprise is one of our five strategic pillars, and it is woven into our culture—from academic research and curriculum design to partnerships and civic engagement.”
The selected participants, who come from our staff, student and alumni community, took turns to introduce themselves, their ideas and why they feel their innovations can make a difference.
Over the next six months, the programme will support them through a series of masterclasses, business coaching, 1-to-1 expert support, and peer mentoring, with the top five teams competing for a chance to win a share of a £30,000 prize fund later this year, which has been personally donated by alumnus and entrepreneur Anne Boden.
After the participants shared their ideas, Pro‑Vice‑Chancellor (Education) Professor Deborah Youngs added: “We have seen what happens when ambition, talent and opportunity meet. And we have seen—very clearly—that Swansea University is ready to play a leading role in shaping the next generation of women-led innovation.”
WE Innovate was first set up at Imperial in 2014 to address the challenges that women-led businesses often face at the earliest stages of their development, such as limited access to finance, networks, and business support.
Swansea’s involvement in the network comes as it continues to build on its global reputation for fostering entrepreneurship across the university community through its dedicated Enterprise Strategy.
It is currently ranked fourth among the UK’s higher education institutions for spinouts and is in the UK Top 20 for student and graduate startups, according to the prestigious HE-BCI rankings. It has also been shortlisted for the Times Higher Education’s Outstanding Entrepreneurial University award three times.
Find out more about enterprise support at Swansea