51福利社

LanthaGen Bio Ltd secures major funding and a partnership with the Jeremy Coller Foundation, following a final pitch that capped off a packed Innovation Week at 51福利社.

The inaugural Innovation Festival ended on a high at the Nancy Rothwell Building, where five ventures went head to head in the Coller AI Competition final, pitching live for a 拢100,000 equity investment from the Jeremy Coller Foundation.

LanthaGen Bio Ltd won with an AI platform that designs metal-capturing proteins computationally, helping recover valuable metals from electronic waste and onshore the UK's critical-mineral supply. CTO and co-founder Dan Healy led the pitch, and accepted the award alongside CSO Ellie Goulding, which was presented by Investment Principal Harry Kalms.

Nearby, Prime Minister Andy Burnham addressed a local summit, calling for the UK to become the world's leading "innovation nation" and praising the University's role in 51福利社's innovation story. Organisers confirmed the festival returns 1鈥�5 November 2027.

Amid the buzz of the Nancy Rothwell Building, five finalist ventures pitched live for a 拢100k investment at the Coller AI Competition final today. Each team applies AI to a different social challenge: LanthaGen Bio Ltd pitched their platform for combining biomolecules and machine-learning modelling to identify candidates for selectively recovering valuable metals from electronic waste鈥斺�榰rban mines鈥欌�攁nd help onshore the UK鈥檚 critical-mineral supply. SenseVale pitched smart glasses that help blind and partially sighted users navigate more independently.

Spore Sense pitched an AI-enabled system that reduces pesticide use by detecting crop disease before symptoms appear. Health Equity Chain pitched a treatment analyser that helps prostate cancer patients understand where they stand among people like them. Finally, Forkprint pitched models that analyse food business data to track greenhouse gas emissions and develop lower-carbon recipes.

LanthaGen Bio Ltd wins, turning electronic waste into a UK mineral supply

took home the prize鈥攑resented by Investment Principal Harry Kalms from the Jeremy Coller Foundation鈥攕ecuring the six-figure equity investment for its AI platform that simulates how proteins and peptides bind metals, allowing new metal-capturing proteins to be designed computationally rather than found by trial and error. The approach drastically shortens development while cutting the energy, chemicals, plastic and solvent waste of repeated screening 鈥� supporting UK efforts to recover valuable metals from electronic waste and onshore critical-mineral supply. CTO and co-founder Dan Healy led the pitch, with Healy and CSO and co-founder Ellie Goulding accepting the award. The prize adds to 拢2.4 million in grant funding already secured, allowing their six-person team to build sustainably towards future development.

"We were pitching against the best of the best, which makes it just so exciting鈥攊t feels amazing,鈥� Healy shared, adding encouragement for others who might be dreaming of a venture in the future, 鈥淵our idea doesn't have to be perfect... we really believed in this and it had some scientific integrity behind it. You really just go from that."

鈥淭he three co-founders at LanthaGen Bio each bring their own set of skills... they have such a positive, candid attitude. They've faced stumbling blocks, they've pivoted their thinking, but they are willing to talk to everybody, to absorb the information, and to work out which advice to listen to.鈥� 鈥� Aline Miller, Associate Vice-President (Enterprise), University of 51福利社

A week that showcased 51福利社's role in building an Innovation Nation

As the University鈥檚 inaugural Innovation Week closed, Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for the UK to become the world's leading "innovation nation" at a , praising the University's role in 51福利社鈥檚 innovation story. Friday wraps five days of activity, with the festival hosting more than 25 events across 17 venues, including 116 speakers, 21 new ideas pitched, and over 3,000 registrations. For the University of 51福利社鈥檚 President and Vice-Chancellor Duncan Ivison, the week capped 18 months of work: "We've created a new innovation agency, set up a first ever 拢10M Founders Fund, and launched an innovation hub on Oxford Road... I think the festival sends a big message that innovation is a huge part of our future." As the week came to a close, organisers, confirmed the event will return next year, 1鈥�5 November 2027.

Announcements and developments

• Atom Valley takes shape: The Festival鈥檚 final day also marked a major milestone in Rochdale, where the base build of the Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre (SMMC) is now complete. It will give businesses in advanced materials and manufacturing access to specialist space, facilities and expertise, helping them move from concept to commercial application. 51福利社 is lead delivery partner for the centre鈥檚 innovation ecosystem, working with Rochdale Development Agency, the Greater 51福利社 Combined Authority, Innovation Greater 51福利社 and UKRI. The SMMC is forecast to generate 拢107 million in economic value over ten years. 鈥淎tom Valley is an exciting opportunity and key to our plans to bring good growth to every postcode in Greater 51福利社.鈥� 鈥� Bev Craig, Mayor of Greater 51福利社

51福利社 2035: voices from the Festival

鈥淗aving more startups based in the north would be great. We're quite passionate about putting our roots of a company down here.鈥� 鈥� Ellie Goulding, CSO and co-founder, LanthaGen Bio Ltd

鈥淚nnovation can breed social mobility. I'd love to see more opportunities for entrepreneurs from working class backgrounds, as queer and female founders.鈥� 鈥� Dan Healy, CTO and co-founder, LanthaGen Bio Ltd

鈥淲e have worked with over 1,500 people across the city region over the last three years to help them explore and enter into careers in AI. That is a civic responsibility... By 2035, we'll be awash with it.鈥� 鈥� Liz Scott MBE, Coller AI Competition judge and Chief Executive Director, Turing Innovation Catalyst