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 in partnership between King’s E-Lab and 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 24 ventures with purpose and potential. Explore the teams moving at pace and developing solutions for a more sustainable, inclusive future.

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.

    Co-founders: Tiago Ladeia and Leandro Silva

  • Atera Analytics

    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

  • 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

  • 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 Gupta, Dr Yan Wang, Prof. Manish Chhowalla and Dr Han Yan

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

Bio / Life Sciences

  • Dulce Cerebrum

    Dulce Cerebrum is pioneering glycosylation analysis – cracking the “sugar code” – to detect early psychosis through powerful AI models and simple blood tests for personalised mental health diagnostics.

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

  • 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

  • Heartly

    Heartly helps individuals prevent cardiovascular disease through personalised education, data-driven insights and coaching – bridging the gap between public resources and private care with accessible, expert-led support.

    Founder: Dr. Mayank Dalakoti

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Yacson Therapeutics

    Yacson Therapeutics analyses plant-based therapeutics to personalise IBD care, using organoid models and epigenetic biomarkers to guide treatment selection and reduce reliance on animal testing in drug discovery.

    Co-founders: Seokjun LeeJaesub Park and Hyun Lee

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

  • 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

  • Myta Bio

    Myta Bio creates biomimetic industrial chemicals from natural ingredients, starting with Myty™ – a mussel-inspired adhesive offering a safer, sustainable alternative to petrochemical-based glues.

    Co-founders: Callan MacDonald and Penny Dray

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

Stealth

Two SPARK 1.0 ventures are currently operating in stealth mode, exploring new approaches to financing climate innovation as well as endomitriosis diagnostics.

SPARK: Research, Develop, Validate.