Earlier this week, on June 11, it was announced which of the 175 innovative Dutch ideas from student entrepreneurs won the Philips Innovator Award and the Rough Diamond League. On the evening of the jury final, ten finalists, LAYCO, Madglove, SoundCell, Antennex, AlphaPace, Accuselect, CupHub and Algaenius presented their ideas to the jury. Ultimately, SoundCell and AlphaPace emerged as the winners.
SoundCell was honored with the Innovator Award. Their idea for antibiotic screening helps doctors to choose the right antibiotics for a patient within one hour, instead of a day. The Rough Diamond League prize went to AlphaPace, for their quality test to test the safety of radioactive isotopes, used in a new promising treatment for cancer, within twenty minutes.
Good indicator
The Philips Innovator Awards (PHIA) are a good indicator of the themes that are relevant to students and young entrepreneurs. In 2023, the ideas of the student entrepreneurs were characterized by making society more sustainable. This year, five of the eight innovations had a link with health or healthcare.
“Apparently, improving healthcare is a theme among young people. As CEO of a health technology company, I naturally wholeheartedly encourage this. But this is absolutely not a condition, with the Philips Innovation Awards we encourage young student entrepreneurs to come up with smart solutions for a wide range of challenges,” says Roy Jakobs, CEO of Philips and chairman of the jury of the PHIA.
Next phase
For the entrepreneurs, the two Awards are an important boost. Thanks to the monetary prizes linked to the awards - €50,000 for the Innovator Award, and €10,000 in the Rough Diamond League - the startups can herald the next phase of their startup. With this prize, the entrepreneurs can take further steps in developing and testing their product and implementing quality systems.
The Innovator Award is awarded to startups that have been around for a while. The Rough Diamond League is for startups that are just starting out. "With the Philips Innovation Awards, we encourage young students and entrepreneurs to come up with smart solutions for a wide range of challenges," says Jacobs.
Who asks?
Is not to be left out. Thom Weustink, co-founder of Layco, a startup in reusable vacuum pumps for births, received a special mention from Roy Jakobs to investigate how he can support Layco's upcoming developments.
"As a medical company, it is of course wonderful to be able to spar with Philips. In the run-up to this final, we had very valuable discussions, Philips is also really willing to think along. That is why I asked him (Mr. Jakobs) at the end of my pitch if he wants to continue supporting us," says Weustink.
