The finalists of this year’s AccelerateHER UK awards have been announced and include two Edinburgh businesswomen.

In all 32 female founders have been named as finalists in this year’s AccelerateHER UK awards in partnership with Barclays Eagle Labs.

These women work in the fields of Science and MedTech; FinTech, Data Science and Cybersecurity; CleanTech, Climate and Net Zero and Disruptive Innovation. 

AccelerateHER COO, Elizabeth Pirrie said: “We’re delighted to be announcing an incredibly strong shortlist and want to congratulate all of our 2022 finalists who are among the most innovative and forward-thinking entrepreneurs operating in the country. 

“The driver behind the AccelerateHER UK awards is to showcase dynamic female founded businesses with major global growth potential. It will be so exciting to celebrate the success of such exceptional talent with our AccelerateHER network when we announce our winners in March.” 

Mehrnaz Campbell founder of Cheemia Limited

Two of the finalists are from Edinburgh:

Mehrnaz Campbell is shortlisted in the Disruptive Innovation category with her business Cheemia Limited, an independent market access and remote sales specialists, providing a unique cloud based training platform for pharmaceutical companies.

Charmaine Lo of Actelligent

In the FinTech, Data Science and Cybersecurity category Charmaine Lo is shortlisted with her business Actelligent (Scotland) Company Limited, a FinTech platform to help investors act intelligently in every stage of the investment process.

Katherine Morgan, Head of High Growth and Entrepreneurs at Barclays, added:  “The standard of entries for this year’s awards has been hugely impressive and is exciting to see the number of female-founded businesses innovating in STEM sectors driving change in the UK. We commend all of this year’s entrants for their dynamic approach to entrepreneurship and wish all the finalists the best of luck for the finals in March.” 

Now in their seventh year, this is the first time the previously Scotland-only event has extended UK-wide. Last year’s four winners include Kate Cameron from Cytochroma, Rebecca Goss from XGenix, Sarah Wernér of Husmus and ZOEX Power’s Aslihan Penley. 

The awards are delivered in partnership with Barclays Eagle Labs. The Scottish Government and global IT and business consulting firm CGI have been instrumental in supporting the growth of the awards in Scotland; ensuring over 700 female founders to date have accessed tangible expert help to prepare for investment and growth.

The winners will be announced at the Regional Finals in March 2022.

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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