FemTech startup Demetria Ltd has won the 2025 Trinity Bradfield Prize, out of a field which this year attracted entries from 34 departments and 24 colleges of The University of Cambridge. Founded by CEO Lorna MacLean, Demetria is using cutting-edge AI technology to reduce the time it takes to get an endometriosis diagnosis from 9 years to 9 minutes.
Second place went to Healthspan Biotics which is developing a probiotic therapy to treat Alzheimer’s Disease by activating a novel pathway discovered through artificial intelligence and confirmed via laboratory validation.
This year’s Hellings Prize was won by PowerMatrix which provides next-gen energy efficient high-performance power supplies for emerging markets such as AI xPU boards, data centers, drones, e-mobility, aerospace and industrial applications.
An Angel Prize was introduced to this year’s competition to celebrate a previous winner’s commercial performance over the past 12 months.
The accolade was shared by Life Sciences duo BioTryp Therapeutics and Cambridge Nucleomics.
BioTryp raised £300k pre-seed cash last year from Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Parkwalk Advisors and the QUBIS Ltd Innovation Fund to advance development of its novel anti-biofilm compounds. The company is currently readying a £2m seed round.
Cambridge Nucleomics helps big pharmas, biotech companies and clinical researchers with a unique value proposition for accurate, fast and direct quantification of native RNA. The company offers a fully automated point-of-care sepsis test in under an hour, and is in the process of signing off its pre-Series A round.
The competition was judged by a panel chaired by Nobel Laureate and Former Master of Trinity, Sir Greg Winter, alongside Kerry Baldwin (Managing Partner and co-founder, IQ Capital), Christine Martin (Head of Ventures, Cambridge Enterprise), Robert Swann and John Yeomans (Cambridge Angels), James Parton (Managing Director, The Bradfield Centre) and entrepreneur Maximilian Ge.
James Parton said: “It’s been another exceptional year for the prize, both in terms of quality and volume of applications. The quality bar was high, and the judges spent considerable time deliberating. I’m delighted for the teams winning the cash prizes, but all finalists will benefit from our ongoing support via mentoring, introductions and complimentary membership of The Bradfield Centre.”
Richard Turnill, Senior Bursar at Trinity College Cambridge said: “Supporting the translation of world class research to real world application is core to Trinity College’s purpose. Trinity is proud to support entrepreneurship at the College, the University and across the city of Cambridge. The Trinity Bradfield Prize final provides recognition for excellence and inspiration for the next generation of Cambridge entrepreneurs.”
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