The presentation of the Oxford x Yope award took place at Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Forum (OSEF), an annual event promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.
This $100,000 prize, awarded to an entrepreneur within the Oxford community, was presented to Ultrablanket, an innovative venture founded by Oxford researcher Netzahualcoyotl Hernandez-Cruz. The event, hosted by the Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre, brought together prominent entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders to explore how individuals and businesses can transform the world.
On Friday, 8 November 2024, OSEF convened students, alumni, and professionals from across the Oxford ecosystem and beyond. Open to all, the conference fosters meaningful dialogue on the power of entrepreneurship to drive positive change. This year’s event featured engaging panels, keynote speeches, and networking opportunities that underscored the potential of entrepreneurship to address pressing global issues.
A highlight of OSEF 2024 was the first-ever Oxford x Yope award announcement, presented on stage by Michael Baum, Founder, CEO and Chairperson of The Yope Foundation, and Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean, MBA and Executive Degrees at Saïd Business School. This prestigious $100,000 award supports Oxford-affiliated entrepreneurs in advancing world-changing ideas and transforming their visions into reality.
Ultrablanket, this year’s award winner, is dedicated to improving maternity care by developing the first-ever wearable ultrasound medical device, and was founded by Netzahualcoyotl Hernandez-Cruz, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Engineering Science and participant in the Entrepreneurship Centre’s Oxford Venture Builder programme; Olga Patey, a fetal cardiologist and a postdoctoral researcher from the Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health; and Edgar Castillo, a researcher from the Department of Physics. Ultrablanket works to save lives by ensuring timely and accessible fetal ultrasound diagnostics, particularly for detecting potential fetal congenital abnormalities in early pregnancy, which can be life-threatening if left undetected.