Meet the SPARK 1.0 Cohort

SPARK is the newest pathway for University of Cambridge students, researchers and recent alumni to materialise their ideas into action. Created by King’s E-Lab in partnership with Founders at the University of Cambridge, our four-week residential incubator is designed to validate bold ideas, early-stage products and social ventures.

Bringing together participants from 17 departments – including Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Materials Science, Engineering, Psychology and the Judge Business School – SPARK 1.0 showcases the creativity and ambition of Cambridge innovators building 23 ventures with purpose and potential. Explore the teams moving at pace and developing solutions for a more sustainable, inclusive future.

Watch the SPARK Demo Day Live Stream

Watch our live stream of the SPARK 1.0 Demo Day on Thursday, 18 September 2025 3.30-6pm on the King’s E-Lab YouTube Channel:

Software / AI

  • Aizen

    Aizen is a credit data startup driving financial inclusion with AI-powered financial passports that enable fairer credit decisions using real-time income, rent and spending data.

    Founder: Tiago Ladeia

    Email

  • Atera Analytics

    Atera Analytics integrates AI, energy and network planning to optimise EV energy infrastructure and logistics for smarter, scalable deployment across the UK, Europe and USA.

    Founder: Jose Francisco Zubizarreta

    Email

  • Cambridge Mobilytics

    Cambridge Mobilytics turns EV charging data into actionable intelligence, building predictive AI models and real-time analytics to support smarter decisions across the e-mobility sector.

    Co-founder: Eliott Fournet

    Email

  • Dielectrix

    Dielectrix develops advanced materials for next-gen semiconductors, enabling energy-efficient, scalable devices and supporting architectures like CFET to meet growing demand for AI and deep learning.

    Co-founders: Dr Maheera Ghani, Dr Yan Wang, Prof. Manish Chhowalla and Dr Han Yan

    Email

  • iFlame

    iFlame accelerates product innovation with a multi-agent AI system that combines automated collaboration and human input to deliver data-driven, scalable and creative product strategies.

    Co-founders: Boyin YangProf. Per Ola KristenssonProf. John Dudley and Yijing Yin

    Email

  • MENRVA

    MENRVA is an AI SaaS platform streamlining art discovery for businesses, matching them with the exact artists and artworks through personalised recommendations and direct connection tools.

    Co-founders: Natalya Doris and Tanvi Rao

    Email

  • The Surpluss

    The Surpluss is a B Corp climate tech platform helping businesses trade excess resources, reducing waste and unlocking circular value across global supply chains.

    Founder: Rana Hajirasouli

    Email

Bio / Life Sciences

  • Egg Advisor

    Egg Advisor is a digital platform guiding women through the egg freezing journey with evidence-based insights, personalised tools and one-to-one support for informed fertility choices.

    Co-founders: Alexandra Draycott and Dr. Valerie Shaikly

    Email

  • Heartly

    Heartly is a heart failure prevention platform — your preventive cardiologist in your pocket. The Heartly algorithm predicts risk to guide action, while the platform unites insurers, employers, and pharma to reduce costs and transform outcomes.

    Founder: Dr. Mayank Dalakoti

    Email

  • Human Experience Dynamics (HED)

    HED is redefining how patient experience is measured in personalised health tech. Temporal Experience Tracing™ captures real-time changes in how patients feel, offering insights into treatment impact and enabling responsive, human-centred care.

    Co-founders: Dr. Barbara Jachs and Prof. Tristan Bekinschtein

    Email

  • IntolerSense

    Healthtech startup IntolerSense uses AI-enhanced food logging and symptom tracking to uncover hidden intolerances, giving users and clinicians faster, more accurate insights into dietary triggers.

    Co-founders: Lukas Pin and Christopher Reiners

    Email

  • Med Arcade

    Med Arcade simplifies clinical data with a user-first agentic AI platform that streamlines patient records, reduces cognitive load and frees up time for better care.

    Co-founders: Dr. Bernard Cho and Raphael Labaca-Castro

    Email

  • Polytecks

    Polytecks is developing a novel method for measuring body surface potentials using wearable e-textiles to improve heart disease detection – starting with early screening for valvular disease in dogs.

    Co-founders: Ruben Ruiz Serrano and Undine-Sophie Deumer

    Email

  • PsyPress

    PsyPress (formerly Dulce Cerebrum) uses everyday speech analytics to predict psychosis relapses up to two weeks before they occur, enabling proactive intervention instead of reactive care. Our digital platform analyses speech patterns like tonality, pausing, and coherence against personal baselines to automatically alert care teams when early warning signs are detected.

    Co-founders: Ines Horvat-MenihTaryn Adams and Chaitanya Dingare

    Email

  • SafeTide

    SafeTide is developing low-cost stabilisation technology that keeps delicate medicines like insulin stable at room temperature, reducing waste and improving access to life-saving treatments.

    Co-founder: Xiaoyi Chen

    Email

  • Yacson QuantumBio

    Yacson QuantumBio personalises chronic gut disease care by using patient-derived organoids, epigenetic biomarkers, and quantum algorithms to accurately predict disease progression and guide treatment selection.

    Co-founders: Seokjun LeeJaesub Park and Hyun Lee

    Email

Sustainability

  • AshGold Africa

    AshGold Africa reduces education inequality by expanding energy access. In Kenya, it deploys solar projects and digital tools to schools, creating green jobs and climate-resilient learning environments.

    Co-founders: Sally MusonyeLaura Kasuni and Jockim Kamalha

    Email

  • Borderline

    Creating the data backbone for emerging market investment opportunities — converting fragmented project pipelines into structured, diligence-ready opportunities for capital allocators.

    Co-founders: Petra Scalamandré and Marco Scalamandré

    Email

  • GreenHarvest

    GreenHarvest is tackling the food sustainability crisis by using climate modelling, soil analysis and satellite data to predict crop potential and guide resilient agricultural planning.

    Co-founders: Tara Murphy and Dylan Cuskelly

    Email

  • Myta Bio

    Myta Bio creates biomimetic industrial chemicals from natural ingredients, starting with Myty™ a mussel-inspired compound offering superior underwater bonding and self healing capabilities for marine applications.

    Co-founders: Callan MacDonald and Penny Dray

    Email

  • Neela Biotech

    Neela Biotech produces carbon-negative jet fuel using microbial upcycling and biogas infrastructure, offering a scalable, low-cost path to decarbonise aviation through sustainable fuel innovation.

    Co-founders: Dr. Deepanshu Singh and Friederike Nintzel

    Email

  • RetroAnalytica

    RetroAnalytica uses AI and climate modelling to predict heat loss, assess retrofit potential and optimise energy efficiency across buildings and property portfolios for decarbonisation.

    Co-founders: Maoran SunProf. Ronita Bardhan and Grace Colverd

    Email

  • Zenithon AI

    Zenithon AI accelerates fusion research with machine learning tools that reduce plasma simulation times from months to seconds – enabling faster, smarter design across energy and engineering sectors.

    Co-founder: Alex Higginbottom

    Email

SPARK: Research, Develop, Validate.