The story so far

In 2019, Paul Lindley OBE, a British entrepreneur and children's welfare campaigner, partnered with the University of Reading to launch a process to find the best sustainable business ideas, from anywhere in the world, and to support one idea with a special grant.

The grant, worth up to £100,000 of research support, is designed to bring together exceptional individuals with innovative ideas and provide them with the guidance, knowledge, and insight they need to turn their ideas into reality.

Finalists who make it to the judging phase of the process are partnered with expert counsellors to help shape their idea and hone their pitch. Our counsellors are purpose-driven leaders from academia, business, social enterprise, and entrepreneurship who are passionate about helping people develop their initial ideas into sustainable business opportunities.

The second edition of just IMAGINE if... was hosted by Durham University in 2022, following an enforced break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The winner was Nostos Homes, a non-profit business producing sustainable emergency shelters for people displaced by violence or natural disasters.

These innovative, modular, lightweight homes are designed to house people immediately after a disaster or conflict, restoring privacy, personal dignity and safety.

Find out more at nostoshomes.org/

The inaugural winner, Alexander Wankel, founded Muyu MilQ, a startup creating a sustainable dairy-free drink made with Peruvian quinoa and tarwi.

Muyu MilQ uses ancient seeds to design MilQ, a food of the future that supports healthy ecosystems and is ethically sourced directly from smallholder farmers in the Andes.

Find out more at muyumilq.com

Since receiving the just IMAGINE if... grant, Alexander Wankel has been preparing to launch Muyu MilQ.

Muyu's vision is to be a food of the future that embraces biodiversity and heals the earth by supporting farmers on the path to regenerative agriculture.

Despite numerous pauses and setbacks during the pandemic, Muyu has been dedicated to perfecting its products, meticulously fine-tuning the taste, texture, and manufacturing process, with plans to enter the American market in early 2024.