Giving back to the next generation Launching the Imperial Entrepreneurs' Pledge

Giving back to the next generation

Meet the first wave of superhero founders pledging to support the entrepreneurial community through the first philanthropic initiative of its kind in the UK.

Imperial’s entrepreneurs don’t shy away from big problems and innovative solutions. They know that success is amplified when they pay it forward. That’s why Imperial has recently ventured into the world of pre-exit philanthropy.

Founders’ pledge programmes have been gaining ground at universities across the world in recent years as a way of engaging entrepreneurs at an early stage in their venture with the idea of giving, before they have capacity to give.

Entrepreneurs who are being supported by, or have received support from, a university programme are asked if they would like to make a promise – or a pledge – of future support to the university when they are able to. This may be when they experience a sale, float on the stock market or have other financial success.

What’s in it for the university? A founders’ pledge is a long-term strategy for bringing in philanthropic income to the university, with a natural emphasis on entrepreneurship support services. The initiative acts as a mix of alumni relations, ecosystem development and early-stage business support. Growing numbers of Imperial students and alumni are starting and scaling successful ventures. Often this has been with early-stage support through College-funded activities such as the Enterprise Lab, Advanced Hackspace, White City Incubator, MedTech SuperConnector and many more. All these programmes and facilities provide support services, cash grants and one-to-one mentoring and coaching, free of charge and without expectation of equity or return.

The Imperial Entrepreneurs’ Pledge is an opportunity for alumni founders to recognise this support and ‘pay it forward’ by pledging to make a philanthropic gift to Imperial in the future. The aim of this funding is to support the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators as they take their first steps, often at a stage before anyone else will back them.

Whether it’s supporting a specific initiative, such as the Enterprise Lab or Advanced Hackspace, supporting a student who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend university with a scholarship, or funding research on critical issues such as climate change or infectious diseases, the gift could help support Imperial’s innovators and entrepreneurs and fund solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.

The founders’ pledge model has led to transformational gifts at other world-leading universities. Many universities in the United States use this model, which has seen the likes of one of the founders of Nextdoor, the social networking service for neighbourhoods, giving back to UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley launched their Founders’ Pledge programme in 2013 and it has since grown to 370 members, with $35 million raised for the university. Outside of the United States, the University of Queensland launched a similar programme in 2020 and has since raised $100,000.

Imperial is the first UK university to launch such a programme. Dr Sarah Flew, Deputy Director of Development at Imperial, was instrumental in bringing the Imperial Entrepreneurs’ Pledge to life: “I’ve been following the development of founders’ pledge pre-exit philanthropy programmes for years, such as those developed around the world by Dee Dee Mendoza at fantastic universities such as Dartmouth, Berkeley, Queensland

£134M

Of investment generated by Imperial startups in 2020–21

£91M

raised by student founders alone.

and Chicago, and I was always keen to start one at Imperial. Imperial has the most amazing founders and the most supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem, so it makes perfect sense to make it easy for our founders to pledge to support the next generation when they’re in a position to do so.”

Many student-founded businesses from Imperial go on to see phenomenal success. Imperial startups generated £134 million of investment in 2020–21, with £91 million raised by student founders alone.

These include $1 billion virtual reality company Improbable, founded by Imperial graduate Peter Lipka; Magic Pony Technology, founded by Rob Bishop and Zehan Wang, which was bought by Twitter for around $150 million; and AI company Tractable, founded by graduate Alex Dalyac, which has been valued at $1 billion.

Former President of Imperial College London, Professor Alice P. Gast, said: “Every year I am inspired by student-founded startups which have the potential to revolutionise industries, transform lives and tackle major societal challenges. We have created a rich network of support for their businesses that will persist long after their graduation.”

“The Imperial Entrepreneurs’ Pledge creates the structure for those founders who have benefited from this unique ecosystem to support those that follow them. The momentum it generates will have a lasting impact on innovation at Imperial and beyond.”

Imperial has a unique network of support for entrepreneurs at all stages. The Enterprise Lab provided almost £200,000 of grant funding to student startup businesses last year alone, along with mentoring, training and access to investor networks.

Free facilities like Imperial College Advanced Hackspace (ICAH) give student inventors access to specialist manufacturing equipment and training to turn their ideas into breakthrough prototypes. Imperial students also own any IP they generate in the course of their studies at the College.

Any Imperial founder can make the Imperial Entrepreneurs’ Pledge, which is voluntary and non-binding, once they’ve graduated. Founders can choose how their gifts will support the College and many will support initiatives for future Imperial entrepreneurs. Once a founder makes the pledge, they become part of an exclusive community who have publicly signalled their intent to support future generations of innovators and entrepreneurs.

Find out more: www.imperial. ac.uk/ entrepreneurspledge

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Once a founder makes the pledge, they become part of an exclusive community who have publicly signalled their intent to support future generations of innovators and entrepreneurs

The pledgers

Michael Moses Founder, Donaco

Donaco, founded by Electrical and Electronic Engineering graduate Michael Moses, is aiming to help charities fundraise efficiently online and unlock digital growth.

Its mission is to connect supporters with causes they care about while helping their charity partners build a cohesive and scalable digital strategy. Data is the foundation of their work, helping them to launch highly relevant and scalable digital campaigns that result in increased reach and discovery of relevant supporters, better engagement for charity campaigns and maximum return on investment on digital fundraising.

Donaco is building a data-driven platform to automate online donor acquisition across multiple channels. Leveraging data and AI, it will enable charities of all sizes to plan, launch and optimise digital campaigns in minutes, not weeks, while maximising performance and amplifying impact. Donaco works with charities to implement a cohesive and impactful digital marketing strategy, evaluating the charity’s current situation, identifying opportunities they could leverage and setting goals.

Dr Olivia Ahn

Co-founder of Planera

Planera, co-founded by Medicine graduate Dr Olivia Ahn and Innovation Design Engineering graduate Aaron Koshy, is developing the world’s first flushable sanitary pads.

At present, there is no sustainable route of disposal available for sanitary products. Plastic in sanitary pads goes to landfill, incinerators or ends in up waterways, causing huge damage to the environment. That’s why Planera is developing the first certified flushable and biodegradable sanitary pads, designed to disintegrate quickly in existing infrastructure when flushed, with a similar environmental impact to toilet paper.

Olivia and Aaron founded Planera in the penultimate year of their studies at Imperial, kick-started with the WE Innovate programme – the College’s flagship programme for startups with a woman founder. After three years of research and development leading to flushability certification, Planera is now preparing to launch its products in the UK.

How does it work? The pad breaks down in two parts. First, with the hydraulic action of the toilet flush, the layers of the pad get pulled apart and can start making their way down the drain line. Then, the 3mm cellulose fibres loosen and break apart. These steps ensure that the pad will have disintegrated by the time it reaches the local municipal plant and can be treated along with toilet paper and sewage.

Planera’s pads take less than 30 days to degrade entirely and contain zero microplastics, in contrast to many conventional sanitary pads.

Olivia said: “Imperial Enterprise Lab has done an incredible job at supporting me and the startup. Firstly, of course, financially, but we’ve also had an incredible amount of exposure. I really wanted to sign the Imperial Entrepreneurs' Pledge because I’ve received so much support from Imperial, and especially the Enterprise Lab.”

Henrik Hagemann

Co-founder and CEO, Puraffinity

Puraffinity, co-founded by Bioengineering graduate Henrik Hagemann and Biochemistry graduate Gabi Santosa, is a green technology company focused on designing smart materials for environmental applications.

Henrik and Gabi have developed a sustainable absorbent material that can selectively capture micro-pollutants including toxic ‘forever’ chemicals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals from wastewater. Their solution helps customers achieve their sustainability goals and adhere to increasingly stringent wastewater regulations to protect their local ecosystem.

The team say they were inspired by nature’s capacity to make biomaterials and their concerns with the challenges that water shortages pose to our health and nature. This led them to focus on fixing nature’s threat of water shortage with inspiration from nature’s capacity to make targeted materials.

The team came together as a commercial entity for the Venture Catalyst Challenge in 2014, during which they formed CustoMem, now Puraffinity, as a company. They then gathered enough traction to convince themselves to discard job and PhD offers and pursue a student-led startup instead.

Puraffinity is based at the College’s White City Campus and has recently moved from the Incubator to Scale Space to accelerate its growth.

Henrik said: “It all goes back to the Entrepreneurs' Pledge, which is about contributing something to the next generation. I’m very grateful for the support we've received but also keen to put it to good use.”

Dr Kevin Koh

Founder and CEO, Vivo Surgical

Vivo Surgical, founded by Biomedical Engineering graduate Dr Kevin Koh, develops nextgeneration medical device solutions through the innovative applications of science and technology. Headquartered in Singapore, the company is currently developing the world’s first disposable robot for NOTES-based surgical procedures (endoscopic surgery), alongside two other complementary technologies that have since been commercialised as standalone devices.

The company’s first commercial product, KLARO™, is a novel in vivo surgical lighting device that delivers optimal illumination to surgical cavities from within. Since its market launch in 2019, the device is now distributed globally in over 25 countries across Europe and the Asia–Pacific. Recently, the company donated 500 KLARO™ units (equivalent to 2,000 hours of surgical lighting) to field hospitals in Ukraine to assist with the ongoing humanitarian crisis. ENLYT™, the company’s other commercial product, is a portable, hand-held endoscope for imaging and diagnosis. Compact and highly versatile, the device is currently being trialled for national-level nose cancer screening in Southeast Asia by a regional ear, nose and throat hospital. It is also undergoing implementation into the emergency response workflows in a major European country as well as being evaluated for ward-based imaging of post-surgery patients.

Nate Macabuag

Founder, Koalaa Prosthetics

Koalaa, founded by Mechanical Engineering graduate Nate Macabuag, is tackling problems in the prosthetics industry. Current equipment is heavy and uncomfortable, as well as expensive. Koalaa’s solution is to develop less-expensive prosthetics that are soft and modular, and can be fitted to anyone in the world through a virtual clinic.

Koalaa’s prosthetic is an innovative type of prosthetic arm, designed for adults and children with below-elbow limb differences. Unlike traditional prosthetics, Koalaa prosthetics are lightweight and comfortable, and are designed to help individuals continue to do the things they love, while also making everyday tasks easier.

The soft prosthetics are made from machinewashable fabric and easy to put on. Once in place, a range of different tool attachments can be fitted, depending on the task or hobby the wearer wants to do. That might include holding a pen or paintbrush, chopping vegetables, doing some gardening with a trowel, typing on a laptop, holding a wine glass or cutlery, sawing, skipping or going for a bike ride.

Additionally, when someone purchases a Koalaa soft prosthetic they automatically become part of the Koalaa community. They have their own ‘limb buddy’ assigned who can answer any questions they may have and who will support them every step of the way.

Nate said: “Imperial is amazing at entrepreneurship in general in terms of helping people with ideas to pursue them and turn them into real-world solutions, and getting them out of the lab and into an actual company. It was just filled with people whose number one focus was to listen to your idea and figure out how to make it a success.

“The Entrepreneurs' Pledge is less about the monetary contributions and more about what that means for the future. I want to see students building the kinds of companies that I want to see in ten years.”

Alex Bond

Co-founder and CEO, FreshCheck

Founded by Imperial PhD alumni Dr John Simpson and Dr Alex Bond, FreshCheck creates intuitive tools for confirming hygiene in a range of markets, such as food, hospitality and healthcare. The latest product is a hygiene verification swab that samples surfaces. After collecting the sample, the swab is placed into the FreshCheck solution, which uses an iron-dye interaction to monitor hygiene. If the swab turns from blue to green, then the surface is contaminated with bacteria and must be cleaned again. FreshCheck hopes to increase the prevalence and use of hygiene testing in hospitality, restaurants and catering, and to extend its use to other markets. Though hygiene testing in the food industry is already commonplace, the market-standard technology is expensive and onerous to use.

Using versatile and adaptable chemistry, FreshCheck’s technology is a test that produces a colour change on contact with bacteria. It can be packaged in a variety of ways depending on use case. Where adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) swab testing (the market standard) requires a costly reader device and professional training to operate and calibrate, FreshCheck’s technology is simple to use and instantly readable.

The company has also developed a companion app that enables auditable hygiene record keeping, supporting businesses in ensuring safety and compliance with health standards. Making hygiene auditing simpler and more affordable will allow smaller food manufacturers access to large supermarkets to provide local food with a lower carbon footprint.

Alex said: “Imperial has supported me and FreshCheck for the entirety of FreshCheck’s existence. Imperial’s network, support and connections to other startups have all been fundamental.

“The whole reason we created a startup was to effect change and being able to encourage other people to do that is inspiring.”

Dr Theodora

Kalentzi, Founder and Director, Medical Prime

Dr Theodora Kalentzi is a Clinical Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine, Health Management MSc graduate, and founder and director of Medical Prime – a private clinic in the City of London offering specialist menopause care and GP services.

The clinic offers services on a wide range of health matters, with expertise in menopause and perimenopause. Its appointments range from 20 to 60 minutes to give patients time to fully discuss their issues.

The team is led by Theodora, an experienced general practitioner and a British Menopause Society-accredited menopause specialist. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and an Advanced Certificate in Menopause Care. She has held several senior healthcare management positions, including NHS Medical Director.