Imperial spinout wins Royal Society of Chemistry Spotlight award

Brilliant Dyes has won the Royal Society of Chemistry's Change Makers Spotlight Award, recognising its innovation in sustainable dye technology.

Imperial College London spinout Brilliant Dyes were recognised with the coveted award at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Emerging Technologies Competition, recognising the company's pioneering work to developing sustainable dyes from microalgae.

The Spotlight Award is presented to a standout innovation from across all four competition categories, highlighting technologies with exceptional potential to address major global challenges through chemistry-led innovation.

Brilliant Dyes was selected as a finalist in the competition's Environment category before being chosen for the overall Spotlight Award following the live pitching final.

We believe the future of engineering should not only perform better, it should leave the world better. Redwan Rehman and Dr Tabish Noori Co-founders, Brilliant Dyes, and researchers, Department of Chemicsl Engineering

On receiving the award, Redwan Rahman and Dr Tabish Noori, Department of Chemical Engineering researchers and co-founders of Brilliant Dyes, said: "This award is a powerful endorsement of our vision to harness chemistry and engineering biology to solve some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges. While our award-winning microalgae-derived dyes are redefining sustainable colour, we are also advancing technologies to address toxic chemicals (known as Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances-PFAS), heavy metals, microplastics and other persistent pollutants. We believe the future of engineering should not only perform better, it should leave the world better."

The RSC Emerging Technologies Competition showcases early-stage technologies with the potential to deliver real-world impact across the fields of health, energy, enabling technologies and the environment. Finalists receive mentoring and training before presenting their innovations to a panel of industry experts, investors and entrepreneurs.

The success reflects the growing strength of Imperial's innovation ecosystem and its commitment to translating world-leading research into technologies that tackle global challenges.

Additional Imperial representation
Imperial was also represented elsewhere in the competition. Alphavectors Biotech was named runner-up in the Health category, while e-ReBat secured runner-up in the Energy category, underlining the breadth of innovation emerging from Imperial-founded ventures.

Together, the three spinouts demonstrate the strength of Imperial entrepreneurship across sustainability, healthcare and clean energy, with each recognised among the UK's leading emerging chemistry-based technologies.

This achievement reflects the creativity, determination and collaborative spirit that define innovation in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Professor Omar Matar Head of Department, Chemical Engineering

On these multiple achievements, Professor Omar Matar, Head of Department, said: "It is fantastic to see Brilliant Dyes recognised with the Change Makers Spotlight Award. This achievement reflects the creativity, determination and collaborative spirit that define innovation in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Together with the success of Alphavectors Biotech and E-Rebat, these awards showcase how our researcher-entrepreneurs are translating world-class science into technologies that can make a meaningful impact on society."

About Brilliant Dyes

Brilliant Dyes is developing next-generation natural dyes produced from microalgae, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional textile colourants. The technology aims to reduce the environmental impact of textile dyeing while providing high-performance, scalable colour solutions for industry. 

ChemEng Enterprise-a rich history, an exciting present, a bright future

Brilliant Dyes, Alphavectors Biotech and E-Rebat have all been supported by ChemEng Enterprise. The Department of Chemical Engineering has a rich track record of translating its innovative research into successful deep-tech companies, including Process Systems Enterprise, the top exit from Imperial in the last 20 years (and one of the top 10 exits from any UK university in the last decade).

To further harness the value and potential of our world-leading research, Chemical Engineering launched in 2019 a strategic initiative, ChemEng Enterprise, unique within Imperial’s departments, to locally support students and staff in developing their entrepreneurship skills, talent,expertise and business formation.

We are extremely proud to have some highly innovative start-ups emanate from the Department, including DyeRecycle, Lixea, p.Happi and more. 

Find out more about ChemEng Enterprise.
Listen to an interview with co-founders Redwan Rehman and Md Tabish Noor, on our podcast ChemEngCast.
Trace the journey of co-founder Redwan Rahman in our feature entitled 'From Bangladeshi roots to natural algae dyes'.