Meet the runners-up of 2022’s AXA Startup Angel competition

The three silver prize winners in the AXA Startup Angel competition, from AXA Business Insurance in partnership with the Evening Standard, reflect the abundance of entrepreneurial talent in the UK.

They each win a digital advertising campaign with the Evening Standard worth £10,000, and a 30-minute mentoring session.

Georgia Bondy, above, created Well Adapt, an online platform providing wellbeing resources for mental and physical health for disabled people, neurodivergent people and those with chronic health conditions, as a result of learning to improve the quality of her own life.

She says the prize “comes at a really great time, because I’ve been panicking about not having much of a budget for advertising when our first resource comes out”.

Adapt Well’s first mindfulness meditation series is set for launch by early November. “It means that people will actually hear about it. The project manager told me about how many impressions on the web [we can get] with the £10,000, and it was a really big number.”

During lockdown, product designer Sam Roscoe started work on milkT, a kitchen device that turns plants such as oats, almonds and coconuts into vegan milk in just 60 seconds. The resulting cold-pressed plant milk is free of additives, thickeners and preservatives and is cheaper than shop-bought cartons. “It’s an incredible saving, but also fresh and tasty,” says Sam.

The prize will enable him to crowdfund the product early next year. “It’s a game changer,” he says. “Part of the reason why I haven’t launched it so far is that it requires a considerable amount of money to manufacture, market and distribute. There’s no point in putting it out there on a crowdfunding platform if you don’t have the capital to invest in advertising. It really could be the difference between the campaign being a success, or failure.”

Also on a mission to improve wellbeing is Employee Appreciation Box, which will offer bespoke company-branded subscription gift boxes for employers of remote and hybrid staff when it launches in the autumn. Founded by a couple after they began working from home together, the business aims to give remote workers more of a sense of belonging, boosting their productivity and improving retention.

“We’re feeling grateful for the opportunities it’s going to open up for us,” says founder Emily of their prize. “It’s going to have a positive impact on a cause close to home. I feel passionate about improving wellbeing.”

Her partner Kieran agrees, saying that the advertising will help them “open up the line of communication with employers who are looking to improve employee wellbeing in their workforce”. Raising awareness of the human element of HR is key too: “We want to use the prize to build recognition not only of our company, but also the importance of why employees shouldn’t be treated as a tool and disposable, and instead treated as people and appreciated.”

The final winner in the AXA Startup Angel competition could have a huge impact on the health and safety of the next generation. The People’s Choice bronze award, voted for by readers of the Evening Standard, went to handisure, an award-winning door finger guard invented by surgeon Pulathis Siriwardana to keep children away from hospital, after his toddler almost crushed his fingers in a closing door.

“A door crush injury can shatter a child’s future dreams,” says Siriwardana, pointing out that each year 30,000 children are rushed to NHS hospitals and 10,000 need surgery for door-crush injuries. “Winning the hearts of the parents and the people is the greatest validation and the key to the success of a child-safety product such as handisure.”

They will use the prize, a digital advertising campaign with the Evening Standard worth £1,000, to raise awareness of the problem and brand. “This award will help us in our mission to help parents protect children from preventable door crush injuries.”

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