EASI26 puts social innovation in the spotlight

The Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs hosted the Entrepreneurs’ Award in Social Innovation (EASI) Final at The Skyline Rooms in London on 19^th May.

Launched in 2022, EASI offers a £10,000 grant to its winner, alongside a broader business support package funded by freemen and friends of the organisation. Finalists also receive the package, which includes a 12 month mentorship programme and a series of Masterclasses led by subject experts. Recipients additionally gain access to a community of leading entrepreneurs dedicated to backing early-stage innovators working on purpose-driven solutions to social challenges.

Now, it is time to look at the finalists of EASI26.

The first finalist to pitch was Mary-Brenda Akoda, Founder of GenScan AI. GenScan AI was founded after Akoda saw how delayed diagnosis from slow medical imaging worsens outcomes in time-critical conditions such as stroke and cancer. GenScan’s patent-pending AI software, GenMRI, reduces MRI scan times by up to 90%, without new hardware, enabling faster, safer, and more accessible diagnosis globally.

Next up to pitch was Zoe Robson, Founder of Joyvié Health. Robson founded the startup following her father’s death from pancreatic cancer. Joyvié Health is developing a reusable incontinence underwear system designed to prevent faecal matter from contacting the skin – a problem the founder says conventional nappies have never solved. The underwear prevents stools from touching skin, restoring dignity, maintaining skin integrity, and reducing the burden on the caregiver.

Next to the stage was Dr. Eleanor Jaskowska, Co-Founder of Avanc, a startup on a mission to tackle the escalating crisis of biological risk in the environment. Microbial contamination from pathogens and antimicrobial resistance are accelerating, and water utilities detect contamination too late to intervene. Avanc is solving this with an AI-powered sensor using light to fingerprint bacteria directly in environmental water, giving companies the tools to monitor, understand, and proactively contain this biological threat.

Jeanne Bégon-Lours, Co-Founder of Tera Mira was next to the stage. Tera Mira is developing a bio-based alternative to elastane made from seaweed, aiming to give fashion the stretch it needs without relying on fossil fuels or shedding microplastics. Designed for composability and recyclability the fibres meet comfort-stretch benchmarks without toxic solvents, and it is able to be a drop-in replacement for elastane, compatible with existing fibre-spinning processes.

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Lastly, Gracie Broom, Founder of Reporti went up to pitch. Broom identified a critical gap in how people seek help in crowded, chaotic environments: people witness incidents but have no fast, discreet way to alert staff. Reporti is a crowd safety startup that allows anyone at a live event to discreetly report incidents, from harassment to overcrowding, directly to security and medical teams via a QR code and mobile browser, with no app required. Staff receive real-time triage alerts showing what happened and where, enabling them to respond and log it for compliance purposes.

After the judges deliberated and the crowd voted for their favourite pitch of the night, the winner was announced. Mary-Brenda Akoda, Founder of GenScan AI was named the winner of EASI26. Akoda’s win reflected both the technical ambition of her pitch and her ability to connect with a room full of non-specialists.