- The winners have been announced for the Santander X UK Awards 2025 at a national final event at Unity Place in Milton Keynes. The winning businesses are Aeropod by Muju Earth, Boost Innovations Ltd, and Amparo Prosthetics Ltd.
- The nine finalists pitched to a panel of high-profile judges, including Claire Williams, former F1 boss and Deborah Meaden, Businesswoman and Entrepreneur, alongside Santander’s CEO, Mike Regnier on 13 November.
- Santander UK has been running an annual entrepreneurship competition since 2010, and in this time has provided more than £1.1 million in equity-free funding to thousands of British start-ups and small businesses.
Santander announced the winners of the Santander X UK Awards 2025 at a national final event held in Unity Place, the bank’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, on 13th November.
Nine finalists across three categories pitched live in front of a panel of high-profile judges, including Claire Williams, former F1 boss, Deborah Meaden, Businesswoman and Entrepreneur, and Santander UK’s CEO, Mike Regnier.
While there were three first-place winners, all nine of the finalists received some vital funding to support them on their business journey:
University category
1st place, £15,000: Aeropod by Muju Earth | Imperial College London | Aeropod is leading the regeneration of humanity’s most important resource. More information: Muju Earth - Aeropod | Leading Soil Regeneration
2nd place, £10,000: ParkinSense | Heriot-Watt University | ParkinSense is a mobile platform using explainable AI to detect Parkinson’s earlier, reducing misdiagnosis and accelerating intervention. More information: ParkinSense.
3rd place, £5,000: HUID | University of the Arts London | HUID converts onion skins into valuable polymers for food packaging materials. More information: HUID.
Startup category
1st place, £20,000: Boost Innovations LTD | Samantha Jackman | Boost Innovations make lightweight and comfortable solution for individuals post-breast cancer treatment. More information: Boost - Lightweight and Comfortable Breast Prosthesis - NHS Innovation Accelerator.
2nd place, £15,000: 29acacia | Sarah Angold | Next-generation material developer, scaling sustainable textiles from banana waste. More information: 29acacia
3rd place, £10,000: PulpTronics | Chloe So | PulpaTronics revolutionises inventory management with more sustainable and affordable technology. More information: Home | PulpaTronics
SME category
1st place, £30,000: Amparo Prosthetics Ltd | Revolutionising prosthetics with smart, adaptable solutions for seamless patient care. More information: Amparo – Revolutionizing Prosthetics
2nd place, £20,000: Stand Out Enterprises Limited | Christian Laing | Stand Out creates bold socks and provides meaningful paid jobs for people with disabilities, challenging stereotypes and driving change. More information: Funky & Colourful Socks- Down Syndrome Awareness – Stand Out Socks UK.
3rd place, £10,000: PortaSauna Ltd | Harry Beardsley | PortaSauna is a premium, wood-fired portable sauna built for adventure, recovery, and connection anytime, anywhere. More information: PortaSauna | The Portable Sauna for Your Garden.
The three first-place winners will go forward to represent the UK in the Santander X Global Awards, Santander’s international entrepreneurship competition.
Mike Regnier, CEO at Santander UK, comments: "Start-ups play a vital role in stimulating growth and innovation in the UK economy – they attract investment, enhance productivity and create jobs. However, building a successful business is no mean feat in today’s world. With rising costs and competitive access to finance, almost nine in 10 business-owners are calling for more funding and support. That's why the Santander X Awards, our global entrepreneurship programme, sets out to support founders across the world with the funding and skills to take their businesses to the next level. A huge congratulations to this year’s winners – I look forward to watching your businesses grow.”
Santander UK’s entrepreneurship awards have long been regarded as one of the largest university and early-stage business pitching competitions in the country. To date, they have supported thousands of entrepreneurs and provided more than £1.1 million in equity-free funding to start-ups and small businesses across the UK.
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Notes to editors
1. The nine finalists are available for interview. Please register interest with the media contacts below.
2. More about the Santander X UK Awards: https://www.santanderx.com/en/sites/santander-x-uk-awards.html
3. More about the Santander X Global Award: https://www.santanderx.com/en/sites/santander-x-global-award.html
Contact Information
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. The bank serves its customers via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the FCA and the PRA in the UK. Santander UK plc customers’ eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS in the UK.
Banco Santander (SAN SM) is a leading commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain and one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization. The group’s activities are consolidated into five global businesses: Retail & Commercial Banking, Digital Consumer Bank, Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), Wealth Management & Insurance and Payments (PagoNxt and Cards). This operating model allows the bank to better leverage its unique combination of global scale and local leadership. Santander aims to be the best open financial services platform providing services to individuals, SMEs, corporates, financial institutions and governments. The bank’s purpose is to help people and businesses prosper in a simple, personal and fair way. Santander is building a more responsible bank and has made a number of commitments to support this objective, including raising €220 billion in green financing between 2019 and 2030. In the first quarter of 2025, Banco Santander had €1.4 trillion in total funds, 175 million customers, 7,900 branches and 207,000 employees.