With the support of Venture Lab, Durham University students and graduates are creating innovative and ambitious startups that positively impact the world. They are tackling issues ranging from food poverty to environmental sustainability.
Meet some of our inspirational founders below:
Alora is revolutionising agriculture by growing salt-tolerant crops using seawater, not freshwater. Their ocean farming technology restores ecosystems, reduces carbon, and expands sustainable food production without extra land use. By turning the ocean into a source of nourishment, Alora aims to feed billions while healing the planet.
Key achievements:
IMPOSSIBREW has a mission is to create the world's most complete alternative to alcohol that offers an experience beyond taste. It brews top quality, enhanced non-alcoholic beers developed for relaxation to offer a real alternative for those who don't want to drink alcohol, but still want to unwind with a pint.
Low Carbon Materials (LCM) is a UK climate tech leader creating carbon-negative aggregates for concrete and asphalt. Their innovative materials cut embodied carbon without altering existing processes, helping the construction industry decarbonise at scale. LCM transforms infrastructure into a force for climate restoration through science, innovation, and circular design.
The Corporate Law Journal is one of the first digital newspapers dedicated to the political, technological, financial and environmental regulatory shifts in the changing world of business and their influence on international deals. It has grown into a large community of legal professionals and enthusiasts.
Feasibly is transforming renewable energy development with AI-powered geospatial tools. Their no-code platform automates site selection, analysing land, grid, and environmental data to identify optimal, grid-ready locations fast. By simplifying complex feasibility studies, Feasibly helps developers accelerate clean energy projects with smarter, data-driven decisions.
VT Treatment has changed the world of skincare and the treatment of skin conditions; manufacturing patented skincare products with a particular focus on eczema, psoriasis, and vitiligo. The company also has other UK-registered brands that offer high-quality cosmetic and organic products. The treatments are now found in pharmacies and skincare clinics across the UK and are registered in many countries worldwide.
Charter is scaling spaceflight with the system of record for spacecraft manufacturing to enable superior space engineering and space insurance globally. It has created engineering and manufacturing software tools to enable more teams to build spacecraft faster and more safely, so they can tackle challenges like climate change, natural disasters, agriculture and sustenance, and geopolitical security.
Ground Up is revolutionising Indian agriculture through industrial hubs of biochar production.
They aim to make biochar accessible to every Indian farmer by 2040 to improve soil health and permanently remove carbon.
Key achievements
Bigged uses AI to help brands create, analyse, and manage social media advertising. It provides tools for competitor research, performance analytics, ad design, and quick deployment to platforms like Meta. The platform aims to improve ad performance by streamlining the entire creative and optimisation process through data and automation.
The founders, Aaron and Zara, previously founded Choppity. Before successfully exiting this business, they:
Hey! Food is Ready is a catering marketplace connecting you with local chefs who share authentic dishes from their own cultures. Discover global flavours and stories through food made with passion and tradition - perfect for any event, from intimate gatherings to large celebrations.
Key Achievements
PolicyEngine is a free, open-source platform that models tax and benefit systems to show how public policies affect people, government budgets, and inequality.
Across both its US and UK versions, it uses microsimulation models based on real household data to estimate taxes, benefits, and the impact of policy changes under current or proposed rules.
Overall, it is designed for researchers, policymakers, and the public to explore, design, and evaluate policy reforms through interactive tools, APIs, and datasets.
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