Social enterprise win for JustMilk Ltd

Cassi Henderson and colleagues win McKinsey Venture Academy competition.

A Gates Cambridge Scholar and her team have won a major social enterprise competition for their start-up company which aims to help children access life-saving medicines and nutrients.

Cassi Henderson [2015 – pictured left], who is doing a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, and colleagues Theresa Maier and Graham Mills from JustMilk Ltd won the McKinsey Venture Academy 2016 competition. The McKinsey Venture Academy is a social enterprise competition for university students based in the UK and Ireland and focused on the potential social impact of the enterprise. 

The prize includes seed funding of £10,000 and mentorship from McKinsey to help transform their idea into a real social enterprise.

The JustMilk project is developing an infant drug and nutrient delivery device with the potential to improve the safety, efficacy, and access to life-saving medications, vitamins and nutrients to breastfeeding infants globally.

JustMilk Ltd was co-founded by Maier and another Gates Scholar Rebekah Scheuerle [2013] in 2015, based on technology developed in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. 

Earlier this year, JustMilk Ltd was also nominated as a Business Weekly 2016 Start-up of the Year Finalist  and came in at number 75 in the biannually index “Disrupt 100”. Each Disrupt 100 venture was sourced from over on million global start-ups and corporate ventures, has been scored against a specific criteria measuring the potential it has to affect an existing market or geography, introduce new customers into an existing market and/or creating a new market with significant customer demand. 

In addition, JustMilk Ltd and the JustMilk non-profit also recently won the royal start-up competition Pitch@Palace, set up by the Duke of York as well as the Duke of York Entrepreneur of the Week.