Five companies based at Norwich Research Park have been named in the #21toWatch Awards shortlist, which showcases the next generation of stand-out entrepreneurs and breakthrough innovations in the East of England.
Now into its eighth year, #21toWatch is organised by Cambridge-based management consultancy Cofinitive and has become one of the most recognised entrepreneurship awards in the country. Its shortlist for the awards is split into three categories – people, companies and the ‘things’ they create. The aim is to showcase and highlight the exciting new businesses across all market sectors and celebrate the very best work going on today in the region.
The five companies at Norwich Research Park that have been listed are:
HotHouse Therapeutics – rewriting nature’s chemistry by uniquely combining AI and plant synthetic biology to industrialise complex natural product chemistry that is inaccessible to traditional synthesis or extraction. Its BotanAI platform designs the ‘genetic recipes’ for novel and complex molecules, while its BotanBio platform delivers reliable, scalable production.
David Sheppard, CEO of HotHouse Therapeutics said, “We are delighted and honoured to be recognised by the judges and listed alongside such an exceptional cohort. Generating sustainable drugs from plants, air, sunlight and water is quite disruptive, and yet the judges have backed the ambition of the approach, which is greatly appreciated. As we have recently embarked on our Seed raise, such recognition will lead to greater investor exposure and help us complete the round.”
“Everyone is aware of how competitive business is in our region and this will surely help to spread the message of what we are doing. Norwich Research Park is a really good place for our business because we are a spin-out from the John Innes Centre and are currently incubated there. It is such a hotbed of talent and the support we have received from both the John Innes Centre and Anglia Innovation Partnership has been great.”
Quadlytics – developing technology that identifies combinations of bacteriophages, which are helpful viruses that can be used as alternatives to antibiotics, to kill bacteria in humans, animals and in the environment as well as contributing to the effort in eradicating antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
RhosynBio – develops innovative antimicrobial surfaces that prevent bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, reducing contamination, corrosion, and AMR risk, while enhancing hygiene and sustainability across healthcare, food processing, and industrial settings.
Zyvex® Antimicrobial – developed an antimicrobial formulation that is a breakthrough in food safety. Created entirely from Food Standards Agency (FSA)-approved materials, it is 100% organic, completely food-safe and edible, yet it significantly reduces the presence of all FSA-listed food-borne bacteria including Listeria.
Agseer – developing an app for farmers that will use image datasets and AI computer vision models that can be used by autonomous robots to understand mixed-species agricultural environments.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday 5 March at The Glasshouse in Cambridge.
Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership, the campus management company for Norwich Research Park, said, “It is fantastic that so many new spinout companies, based at Norwich Research Park, have been recognised by the judges of #21toWatch. We are proud to be part of their initial success stories, supporting them through our campus incubation programme. We wish them the best of luck in the final.”
