Life-changing student innovations to battle for awards

Ten ground-breaking student innovations are set to battle it out at the ESBF Champion of Champions Competition Grand Final this November — and their ideas could change the way we live.

Now in its seventh year, the competition brings together the UK’s sharpest student and graduate entrepreneurs to tackle real-world challenges head-on.

This year’s finalists are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with innovations tackling issues such as water quality, cyber security, farming, aviation, misinformation and health and wellbeing. 

The showdown marks the climax of a year-long series of enterprise contests held at universities across the UK, where thousands of students tested their creativity and resilience in pursuit of innovation.

On 7 November 2025, the finalists will step into the spotlight at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London. After a day of intensive coaching from seasoned industry leaders, they’ll face a dragons’ den-style finale, pitching their big ideas to a panel of experts for a chance to claim a share of the £17,000 prize fund.

Winners will also unlock mentoring opportunities, bespoke CV packages from PurpleCV and business book prizes.

The ten finalists will compete in two categories – Big Ideas and Startup.

Big Ideas

• Aero Thaw (Nottingham Trent University): Adaptive electro-thermal rotor blade protection for helicopters.
• FluoroGlow (University of Exeter): A Cryptosporidium fluorometer to provide in-situ analysis of water quality in a bid to tackle water-borne outbreaks.
• Rephobia (Queen’s University Belfast): Therapist-led virtual reality therapy for the treatment of phobias.
• SkyNet AI (Teesside University): An AI assistant for ethical hacking designed to protect SMEs from harmful data breaches.  
• TerraSwarm (University of Sheffield): An automated soil aeration tool for sustainable farming. 

Startup

• Aleta Index (Imperial College London): A platform tackling misinformation online, rating articles by their trustworthiness.
• BetaSync (University of Edinburgh): An AI-guided infusion device to act as a solution to Lipohypertrophy for Type 1 Diabetics
• CAnswer Biosolutions (University of Aberdeen): A portable biopsy kit for quick, out-of-clinic biopsies.  
• PEACH Simulators (King’s College London): High-fidelity, reusable, clinically validated simulators to enhance medical training.
• Sekhmet (Imperial College London): ‘Super plasters’ which use the body’s own proteins to accelerate healing.

The grand final activities kick off with a coaching day for finalists on 6 November, where a select group of Sainsbury Management Fellows, all business leaders who benefitted from an MBA scholarship from ESBF, will each take two teams of finalists under their wings and coach them so they can make a stellar presentation at the awards presentation on 7 November.

The voting is now open for the Pre-Show Public Vote, which will see the innovation with the most votes scooping up a £500 prize.