Ahead of 24 other finalists teams from Danish universities—of which DTU participated in 11—POC Solutions was crowned the overall winner of the Venture Cup idea Competition on Friday, 29 January.
POC Solutions
The team behind POC Solutions includes Winnie E. Svendsen, associate professor at DTU Nanotech and Dan Høgdall, PhD student at the University of Copenhagen, who have developed a chip to help detect and diagnose certain cancers better and earlier than today.
We are on to something great
"This prize is very important for our start-up company. It validates that we are on to something great, and we can now move forward with developing a business plan and getting the business off the ground," says Winnie E. Svendsen.
The award-winning idea is that you take a sample from e.g. urine or saliva and measure the content of so-called exosomes—small vesicles that are secreted by cells in the body to the blood stream. An increase in exosomes—particularly in urine—may indicate the presence of various types of cancer.
Early warning…
Today, it is both expensive and time-consuming to examine the content of exosomes. However, POC Solutions’ new chip enables you to check the data on the spot. In addition, the chip can also be used at pre-screens where it can detect the onset of cancer of the pancreas, for example.
Besides the prize for best idea, the jury of professional business people and entrepreneurs also chose the winners of in five other categories:
Cleantech & Environment
HP Now
Cost-efficient environmentally friendly biocide on-site, on-demand.
DTU
Product & Technology
SoundSense
Allows people have the full acoustic experience of their favourite music without damaging their hearing in the long run.
DTU
Social Entrepreneurship
Mobilized Construction
Mobilize and employ thousands of individuals to improve local infrastructure at a fraction of the current cost.
Aalborg University (AAU)
Web & Mobile
Data Mine
Streamlines data services and saves scientists time by using propriety conversion algorithms to provide all the data required.
DTU and University of Copenhagen (KU)
FinTech
Trayce
Simple expense management, just as it should be.
DTU and Copenhagen Business School (CBS)
To learn more about the categories and finalists, please follow this link.