MEET THE FINALISTS
Meet the 2025 Santander X Awards finalists. These nine businesses will pitch live at the National Final at Unity Place, Santander UK’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, on 13 November. This year’s panel of judges includes Mike Regnier, Santander UK Chief Executive, Claire Williams, former Williams F1 boss, and Deborah Meaden, Businesswoman and Entrepreneur.
PulpaTronics
PulpaTronics is developing recyclable, metal-free paper tags using a laser technique. The aim is to provide businesses that rely on disposable electronics with recyclable, affordable alternatives for a more circular economy. Currently, billions of RFID tags are used annually (particularly in retail clothing), and most include metal, plastic and silicon – making recycling difficult. Chloe So, PulpaTronics founder, says their tags are cheaper, compatible with existing recycling streams and significantly reduce carbon footprint. “This startup basically started from a master’s project – we were fascinated by reducing e-waste in the world by using emerging technologies”.
ParkinSense
ParkinSense designs wearable sensor-based technology for people living with Parkinson’s disease. The company found that patients experience intense tremors, memory impairment and require frequent medication adjustments, yet clinicians often lack granular movement data to optimise treatment. In response, it created sensors to detect motion, which inform an algorithm that analyses tremors. The data is then transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile app, allowing the user and physicians to monitor progression and personalise intervention. Their mission is to improve quality of life and support research. in collaboration with pharmaceutical firms. Founder Adam Lockhart told City PM that, if selected, the Santander X award support would help accelerate market entry and secure key research partnerships.
Amparo Prosthetics ltd
Amparo Prosthetics focuses on intelligent prosthetic devices for amputees. Existing prosthetics can be expensive, heavy and lack real-time data or adaptability. Their mission, as a response, is to make life-changing devices more accessible, connected and tailored to the wearer’s lifestyle. The founder is seeking to commercialise engineered hardware despite difficult regulatory constraints, funding serial production and scaling global distribution. Winning exposure would help the company secure manufacturing partners, clinical trials and raise awareness among rehabilitation ecosystems.
HUID
HUID, founded by Renuka Ramanujam, creates home-compostable packaging from onion skins. It produces a rigid board and a film, both made from onion-skin cells, to replace single-use plastics. While conventional packaging is globally derived from fossil fuel plastics and non-compostable, Ramanujam positions its onion-skin waste as an under-used alternative. She told City PM the idea was driven by the need for “a sustainable, affordable and high-performing alternative to plastic packaging” while reducing food waste. However, scaling production from waste feedstock to industrial output while satisfying performance and cost metrics have been a major challenge so far. However, the company has already secured Innovate UK funding and plans to launch its materials to market by mid-2026.
Stand Out Enterprises ltd – (Stand out socks)
Stand Out Socks was founded by brothers Christian and Ross to tackle the issue that just approximately five per cent of adults with a learning disability in the UK have paid employment. Their business produces colourful socks and reinvests profits to create meaningful employment for people with down syndrome and other learning disabilities. Ross is among the five employees with Down syndrome on the team. The team are finding it hard to recruit and retain staff in key roles as the business grows. But, witth award support and exposure, the company plans to bring in a chief executive earlier than planned and expand hours of paid employment.
Aeropod by Muju Earth
Muju Earth is on a mission to regenerate soil, “humanity’s most important resource”, via its flagship product, the ‘aeropod’. Its founder, Lu Afolayan, says heavy and chemically-intensive agriculture has degraded soils globally, undermining global food production. The ‘aeropod’ is a biodegradable capsule planted like a seed – when triggered by soil conditions, it aerates compacted ground, releases nutrients and biodegrades, reducing the need for fertilisers and machinery. The company has identified the gap: “The gap in the market that inspired me was the lack of practical and affordable solutions for farmers when it came to innovating around soil degradation” said Afolayan. With farmers already on a wait-list, Muju Earth plans production pathways, enterprise contracts and pilot programmes as it scales its solution.
29acacia
29acacia transforms agricultural waste into low-impact textiles, replacing cotton and viscose in the fashion industry. While raw materials dominate fashion’s environmental footprint, many alternatives are expensive, hard to scale or compromised on performance. 29acacia’s fibres are sourced from agricultural waste, with a supply chain designed to be transparent and scalable. Their material claims a 90 per cecnt lower carbon footprint than conventional cotton and is already piloting with clients in denim production. Yet, scaling supply and convincing large fashion brands of the reliability and performance of novel biotextiles has proven diffcult. Exposure from Santander’s X award would help accelerate industrial adoption and investment.
Boost innovations Ltd
Boost Innovations creates lightweight, replacement breast forms for breast-cancer patients post-mastectomy. The company was founded after the founder’s mother experienced discomfort with traditional silicone prostheses. As founder Samantha Jackman said: “We wanted to create something that didn’t just replace what was lost, but supported women in embracing who they are now”. But, securing investment and awareness, especially for women’s health products that break from conventional design. With award support, Boost aims to increase awareness, reach NHS channels and accelerate production.
