Alumni Entrepreneur Award

The stage and audience at the Alumni Awards Ceremony 2020

The Alumni Entrepreneur Award: Recognising bold and innovative founders.

This award recognises and celebrates innovative and creative alumni entrepreneurs who can demonstrate commercial success, growth and impact.  

Joint nominations for up to three alumni co-founders will be accepted for this award. All nominees will need to meet the criteria to be considered for the award. 

Alumni eligible for this award:

  • Have founded or co-founded one or more commercially viable companies.  
  • Can demonstrate commercial success, business growth and tangible achievements of their company. 
  • Are motivated self-starters who have demonstrated exceptional drive and leadership and have taken bold decisions to make their company a success. 
  • Have received external recognition and/or validation from their peers and/or the industry. 
  • Are inspiring role models, mentors or champions for equality in their industry. 
  • Are making a positive contribution to their community, or impact on society through their company, voluntary or charitable activities. 

Meet our Alumni Entrepreneur Award Winners

Dr Ali Baghdadi

2021 winner: Dr Ali Baghdadi (MSc Computing 1977 and PhD Computing 1979) founded Aptec while at Imperial, later selling the company to Ingram Micro, a Fortune 100 business.
Alumni Entrepreneur Award winner 2023 Christopher Hopper

2023 winner: Christopher Hopper (MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering 2011) co-founded Aurora Solar, now worth over $4 billion, driven by a vision of access to clean energy for all.

Divya Gupta

2021 highly commended: Divya Gupta (MSc Management 2013) is the co-founder and CEO of momzjoy.com.
Manuel Pinuela

2021 highly commended: Dr Manuel Piñuela (PhD Electrical and Electronics Engineering 2013) has launched three start-ups bringing innovative technology to the market.
Paul Atherton

2021 winner: Dr Paul Atherton (PhD Physics 1978) co-founded his first company, Queensgate Instruments, while at Imperial and continues to mentor start-ups at UK universities
Ron Atzmon

2024 joint winner: Ron Atzmon (MBA 2002) is the funder of AU10TIX, an identity verification technology solution with a value of over $300 as of 2019.
Dr Tasos Kounoudes

2022 winner: Dr Tasos Kounoudes (PhD Electrical & Electronic Engineering 2000) founded technology company, SignalGeneriX, in Cyprus, contributing to the transformation of the Cypriot economy.
Val Yap

2022 highly commended: Val Yap (MSc Management 2012) is the founder of digital platform PolicyPal, with a mission to change how people manage their insurance policies in Asia and beyond.
Dr Jean Marc Feghali and Gökhan Meriçliler

Dr Jean Marc Feghali (MEng Civil Engineering 2018, PhD Civil and Environmental Engineering 2022) and Gökhan Meriçliler (MSc Business Analytics 2022) are the creators of WeWalk, the smart cane manufacturer for visually impaired people.