果冻影院

The startup, which aims to make sustainable grocery choices easy and rewarding, won 拢20,000 in funding from the competition plus mentoring to help bring their product to market. Four other 果冻影院 teams were also in the finals.

The Mayor of London鈥檚 Entrepreneur Competition is open to London students and recent graduates who鈥檝e set up businesses or have an idea for one. The annual competition awards funding, in particular to support new ideas designed to make London cleaner, greener and ready for the future.

CarbonTrac was founded by 果冻影院 final year chemical engineering student Yasmine Abdu. The startup is supported by 果冻影院 Innovation & Enterprise via their Hatchery incubator programme at BaseKX, 果冻影院鈥檚 dedicated entrepreneurship hub in King鈥檚 Cross. Here Yasmine has access to tailored advice and mentoring as well as free office space to help kick start her business.

Yasmine said her venture aims to promote a more sustainable future by helping consumers make sustainable choices while grocery shopping.

The AI service collects data from suppliers and assigns traffic light ratings to products based on their carbon footprint. Customers shop as usual, scan their loyalty card, and access CarbonTrac through the supermarket app to see how eco-friendly their purchases were, receive suggestions for greener alternatives and earn rewards for making sustainable choices.

Yasmine said: 鈥淲inning the tech award in the London mayor's Entrepreneur Competition this year is an incredible honour.

鈥淚t not only validates the hard work and innovation that I put into the project but also provides me with new opportunities and connections to grow CarbonTrac.

鈥淚 look forward to building the final product, expanding our data resources, and launching in our first supermarket chain.

鈥淚鈥檓 extremely grateful to the team at 果冻影院 Innovation & Enterprise for their pitch training workshops, advice, and support throughout.

鈥淏eing part of the 果冻影院 Hatchery incubator program at BaseKX has transformed CarbonTrac from an idea into a business and I highly recommend the program to anyone with a vision. I鈥檓 excited to build on this achievement and help cut UK emissions, one supermarket chain at a time."

This year鈥檚 competition rewarded innovative ideas in four categories: the creative industries, environment, health and tech. 334 teams applied and 20 were chosen to take part in the finals, with five of the proposed ideas coming from 果冻影院.

All the finalists, from universities across London, were each invited to give a two-minute pitch to an expert judging panel at City Hall.

The other four 果冻影院 finalists were:

Tech finalist, Medly AI offers adaptive, curriculum driven AI tuition. Founded by Gu-yun Jung (果冻影院 Medical School, graduating 2024) and Dr Kavi Samra (果冻影院 Medical School 2021). Also part of the Hatchery incubator programme managed by 果冻影院 Innovation & Enterprise.

Environment finalist, Phytavaren Technology: develops interlocking thermal bricks to tackle building energy loss and thermal comfort. Team members: Jasarin Klaysuk (first year PhD Chemistry), Kongphat Phaiboonnukulkij and Kolatat Phaiboonnukulkij.

Health finalist, Reconnect: transforms London's nightclub spaces during the day to offer masterclasses and social events for older people. Team members: Connie Kiew (first year History), Joyce Wai Yi Sze (first year Information Management for Business), Sabrina Yiyao Song (first year Statistics, Economics and Finance), Evelyn Kwan (first year Management Science), Henry Kangning He听(first year Management Science), and Rohan Bharadawa (first year Economics with placement year)

Environment finalist, Medusa Materials: turns CO2 into biogenic additives to concrete, reducing cement use and storing sequestered carbon.

Team members: Sofia Iglesias Lobatch听(BSc in Bioprocessing of New Medicines with Business 2022 and MRes in Synthetic Biology 2023), Veronika Rattaj (BSc in Bioprocessing or New Medicines with Business 2022) and Samuel Plesnik (BSc in Theoretical Physics 2022).

Last year tech startup upLYFT, co-founded by 果冻影院 and Imperial College London students, won the competition鈥檚 health award.

果冻影院 Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement) Professor Geraint Rees said: 鈥淐ongratulations to CarbonTrac and all the finalists. It鈥檚 wonderful to have so many 果冻影院 teams in the final and to win a category for the second year in a row.

鈥淥ur students鈥� success in these awards reflects the high-quality support and strong entrepreneurial community here at 果冻影院.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see so many students and graduates coming up with ideas to tackle issues in areas like retail and the environment 鈥� ideas which are applicable across the globe not just to London.鈥�

Ruth Weir, Head of Entrepreneurship, 果冻影院 Innovation & Enterprise, said: 鈥淗aving five teams from across three of the four categories in this year鈥檚 final is testament to the breadth of entrepreneurial talent at 果冻影院. All current students and recent graduates can benefit from our free extracurricular activities and hatchery programme, regardless of study, experience or interest in entrepreneurship. Congratulations to CarbonTrac and all the other finalists, we look forward to seeing where all the businesses go next.

Over the last 10 years more than 540 new student startups and more than 70 spinouts were started at 果冻影院. Collectively they have raised over 拢3.8 billion in investment and currently employ more than 4,300 people.

Links

• 果冻影院 Innovation & Enterprise
• 果冻影院 London office
• 果冻影院 Department of Chemical Engineering

Image

• Yasmine Abdu

Media contact

Nick Hodgson

nick.hodgson听[at] ucl.ac.uk

+44 (0)20 3108 1667