Global Innovation Challenge 2025 celebrates Heriot-Watt’s next generation of founders
Heriot-Watt University has celebrated another outstanding year of entrepreneurial talent as the Global Innovation Challenge (GIC) 2025 concluded, showcasing student and alumni-led ventures addressing global challenges across health, artificial intelligence, sustainability, wellbeing, education, and finance.
Delivered over ten weeks, the Global Innovation Challenge is a flagship programme supporting early-stage founders from across Heriot-Watt’s global community. Participants engaged in a structured series of expert-led workshops, mentoring, and practical development sessions designed to transform early ideas into robust, investable ventures ready for the pre-seed stage. Sessions were delivered by a diverse range of industry partners and organisations, including Scrubmarine, Converge, More Yum, Bridge, Entropyst, NexalQ, The Latent Need, Skyrora, Diageo, JCCA, and Riddell & Grose.
This year, the programme engaged over 600 participants from 65 countries worldwide, with 1,299 attendances across eight weeks of workshops. This resulted in 58 final video pitch submissions, highlighting both the reach and impact of the programme.
This year’s Challenge recognised 11 projects spanning Robotics & AI, Health & Care, Wellbeing Tech, Net Zero, EdTech AI, and FinTech, highlighting both the breadth of innovation at Heriot-Watt and the University’s commitment to impact-led entrepreneurship.
Award winners driving real-world impact
The AI Innovation Award, was awarded to Presbron.nl, founded by Manish Kakkar, a master's student in Computer Science. Drawing on his background as a software developer, Presbron.nl uses AI to help journalists identify socially important stories that often go underreported, by analysing signals from citizens, social media and news sources.
The Best of Incubator Award, was awarded to IntelliDent AI, founded by Affaan Shaikh. IntelliDent AI is the UAE’s first AI-powered dental diagnostics platform, enabling early detection of oral health issues through smartphone images and dental X-rays, with the aim of making dental care more affordable and accessible.
The Social Innovation Award went to StepOut, founded by Evans Ngu. Inspired by the founder’s own experience of Gen Z loneliness, StepOut helps users turn surface-level connections into meaningful friendships through shared real-world experiences.
Healthcare innovation featured strongly in this year’s cohort. The Healthcare Innovation Award, was presented to ParkinSense, founded by Adam Lockhart, an Edinburgh alumnus who graduated with a first-class honours degree in Biological Sciences and Human Health. ParkinSense is a digital platform using machine learning to support earlier and more accurate identification of Parkinson’s Disease, with the potential to reduce misdiagnosis and improve access to specialist insight in underserved regions.
The Net Zero Innovation Award was awarded to SmartStore, developed by Rasool Amiri Kolajoobi, an Edinburgh alumnus and PhD specialist in Carbon Capture and Storage. SmartStore is a real-time monitoring and alerting system that combines AI with geoscience principles to identify risks in CCS operations within hours rather than months, supporting safer deployment of low-carbon technologies.
Recognising emerging founders
A number of additional ventures were recognised through runner-up and special awards, reflecting the depth of entrepreneurial talent across the programme.
Ahithophel, runner-up for the AI Innovation Award, is a conversational AI venture developed by recent Heriot-Watt graduates Lekshmi Ramachandran Nair, Aravind Sekar and Aravind Chidambaram. The platform supports more structured and ethical early mental-health interactions, improving how information is gathered and shared with clinicians.
MicroInterns, awarded Social Innovation Award – runner-up, is an EdTech and HRTech platform co-founded by Heriot-Watt alumni Ioanna Pouli and Priyanka Rao. The venture connects students with short, real-world projects and converts outcomes into verified MicroSkill Passports, helping students build experience while enabling organisations to access proven early-career talent.
The Founder Potential Award was presented to Beelo, founded by Edinburgh alumnus Sam McGuire. Beelo is a fintech savings app that helps users build healthier financial habits by turning skipped purchases into visible progress towards personal savings goals.
The Entrepreneurial Spirit Award was awarded to EcoQuest, founded by undergraduate student Solaf Al-Gumaei. EcoQuest is an educational platform for children that uses interactive challenges to make learning about sustainability engaging, accessible and action-focused.
Building an entrepreneurial culture
Beyond funding, the Global Innovation Challenge plays a central role in developing entrepreneurial capability across Heriot-Watt University’s campuses and programmes. Participants included undergraduates, postgraduates, alumni and incubator founders from Edinburgh, Dubai and online pathways, reinforcing the University’s global outlook.
Reflecting on the programme, Rafee Ahamed, Programme Lead for the HWU Global Innovation Challenge 2025, said:
Over ten weeks, participants refined ideas into ventures ready to move towards the pre-seed stage. While £30,000 has been awarded across 11 projects, the real value lies in the confidence, networks and mindset developed along the way. Entrepreneurship is about turning proof into progress, and this year’s founders exemplify innovation with impact and the potential to grow into companies that shape industries and communities worldwide.
As the programme concludes, teams will continue to receive guidance and support as they prepare for the next stage of their entrepreneurial journey. The Global Innovation Challenge remains a cornerstone of Heriot-Watt University’s commitment to empowering innovators to address global challenges and create meaningful, scalable change.