The idea came about in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Gratama-Stichting. This family foundation has been subsidising scientific projects at the universities of Leiden and Groningen for decades. For almost 15 years now, they have also been awarding the Gratama Science Prize, an incentive prize for a young, promising scientist at the same universities of Leiden and Groningen who is working on socially relevant themes. For the anniversary of the Gratama-Stichting, the board wanted to do something special, the idea arose to award a prize to a promising startup from Leiden and/or Groningen on behalf of the Gratama students. It had to be a startup that has its origins in innovative scientific or higher professional research with social impact, translating scientific insights into social relevance.
‘As the Gratama-Stichting, we had been wondering for some time whether we shouldn’t take a leap of faith a bit more often, as we did years ago when we exceptionally gave master’s student Wouter Bruins a grant. With that contribution, we gave a young entrepreneur the chance to launch a startup that has grown into a wonderful company. Although investing in a company always means taking a risk, you do give someone like that a chance he would otherwise not have had. This is precisely why we want to take this step and give an award to such a young entrepreneur on the occasion of our anniversary as a pilot.’
The Gratama Award
Ten startups were reviewed, after which five pitched for the Gratama-Stichting. They were allowed to divide the prize money of €12.500 themselves, as the (student) jury came to the choice. The winners were announced during PLNT Festival. What the judges paid attention to? The topic of the startup, its impact on society, its likelihood of success and how much impact the prize money will have for the startup.
MyClusters won a prize of €2500,-. The startup focuses on tackling cluster headaches. By using an app, you can track your cluster headaches, discover triggers and keep track of medication. The Gratama-Stichting was touched by founder Darshan Ramanagoudra’s personal story and the constituency he has already gathered for his startup.
The prize of €10.000,- went to brandnew startup Axite. Founders Charlotte Franenberg and Ruchella Kock have developed software that allows brain activity to be measured and paired with a smartphone or tablet. This way, you can do tests from home, in just 20 minutes a day, that measure, for example, the effectiveness of epilepsy medication. This makes it easier to find out the right medication and dose.
The choice of Axite is mainly based on the fact that the startup can be impactful for a lot of people and relieves hospital staff. They can put the prizemoney to good use to give the software an attractive interface that presents the retrieved information understandably. A good investment!
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