Businesses win £40,000 of prizes at Venturefest (From York Press)

Businesses win £40,000 of prizes at Venturefest

6:17pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Business news By Julie Hayes, Business editor

TWO businesses which exhibited at the annual science and technology expo, Venturefest, today took home prizes worth more than £40,000.

At the Venturefest dinner this evening, Aptamer Solutions, which develops molecular devices known as aptamers, which can be used to replace antibodies in life-sciences research, such as diagnostics, therapeutics, biomarket discovery and nanotechnology, was announced as the winner of the Investment Competition.

The Leeds-based company, which said it was hoping to move into laboratory space in York, won £29,000 worth of business support in the competition, which was organised by the Yorkshire Association of Business Angels (YABA).

The Test People, based in Seacroft, north Leeds, also won a prize package of business support worth £12,000 in the Innovation Showcase.

The company, which provides management information, such as web testing services to ensure websites anticipating peaks in traffic can cope with surges in visitor numbers, launched four years ago and currently employs more than 60 people.

Young medical technologies firm Crystec Pharma, from Bradford, was also named by the judges as 'one to watch'.

Amy Bond, the 18-year-old winner of the Enterprise Inspirations competition, held by business and education organisation NYBEP, was speaker at the dinner, which was compèred by Steve Hughes, managing editor of The Press.

The former student of The Mount School in York told the audience how she planned to further her product development business after developing a convertible child's chair that can also be used as a kitchen cooking station so kids can cook with adults, for an A-level design project.

The product won Amy the overall prize in the Enterprise Inspirations competition and as a result she has been entered into the national finals of enterprise competition, The Big Bang, which is being held at the NEC in Birmingham in March.

Amy, who is now in her first year of a product design degree course at York St John University, hopes to set up a limited company to develop further useful products for children.

She said: “It started off as something I had to do for my A-Level, but when I started thinking about it, I thought there was a real need for this. And I really liked designing it. I'd like to continue to make things that people need. It has become a passion.”