The Global Business School for Health (GBSH) hosted its highly anticipated third annual Dragons' Den Final Pitch competition this week, bringing together entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and a powerful drive to reshape the healthcare sector. The event, open to all GBSH postgraduate and MBA students, culminated in a thrilling showcase of ideas designed to tackle some of healthcare’s most pressing challenges.
Five finalist teams took the stage in front of a panel of distinguished Dragons, pitching their start-up ideas after progressing through four rigorous rounds of competition. The Dragons included respected names in healthcare entrepreneurship and investment:
- Paul Tomasic, Head of European Healthcare and Managing Director at Houlihan Lokey
- Dr Vanessa Dekou, Managing Director of Clinical Services International (CSI)
- Dr Ruth Weir, Head of Entrepreneurship at UCL
- Jamal Butt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Cambridge University
Each finalist team received a cash prize to support the launch of their ventures, while the top prize - £4,000 and a year of expert mentoring - was awarded to Team Lumina, whose ground-breaking platform for perinatal mental health wowed the judges.
Lumina, comprised of Beatrice Xu, Danyaal Kazmi, Graca Hall, Yiyi Li, and Yuhong Shu, presented an AI-powered hybrid platform that aims to transform the early detection and management of perinatal mental health risk. By combining psychological assessments with mood tracking, cortisol and IL-6 monitoring, and AI-driven analytics, Lumina generates personalised care pathways and optional clinician alerts to support vulnerable patients.
The Dragons praised Lumina’s scalability and clinical relevance, noting the platform's existing pilot in the United States and its strong potential for industry partnerships.
Graca Hall, Project Manager for Lumina, reflects on the competition:
"Winning the GBSH Dragons' Den was transformative - it pushed us beyond academic theory to develop real-world solutions with genuine policy relevance. Pitching to industry experts challenged us to articulate not just what we're building, but how it integrates into the current healthcare ecosystem.
The interdisciplinary nature of our UCL Global Business School for Health programs gave us the comprehensive perspective needed to tackle complex maternal mental health challenges. Working alongside colleagues from all postgraduate programs enriched our approach immensely.
Next, we're actively seeking strategic partnerships to scale our perinatal mental health solutions. With the government's focus on maternal care reform, we're positioned to contribute meaningfully to addressing fundamental gaps in UK maternal care through early intervention technology that empowers families during this critical transition."
Other finalists also brought compelling innovations to the table, including:
- Calmana, a digital mental wellness platform to support couples experiencing infertility
- PrenaVie, a flavoured prenatal gummy delivering 20 essential micronutrients
- Smart Biomarker Socks, with embedded sensors to help monitor non-communicable diseases
- Compass, a digital mentoring platform designed to address healthcare workforce burnout and attrition
Each of these projects demonstrated creativity and a strong alignment with real-world needs in public health, biotechnology and digital health.
Beyond the final pitch, the Dragons' Den competition offers students invaluable experience in entrepreneurship, pitching and professional networking. Participants received mentorship from industry leaders, honed their public speaking skills, and gained feedback on the commercial viability of their ideas.
The Dragons' Den competition has quickly become a flagship event at GBSH, inspiring a new generation of healthcare leaders to think like entrepreneurs. With real funding, mentorship, and a platform to launch their ventures, GBSH students are proving they’re not just ready to join the health ecosystem - they’re ready to disrupt it.