CEO and founder Mary Blake was selected from 1,590 applicants across the UK and is one of two Northern-Ireland based innovators to be acknowledged.

Derry’s Mary Blake, the CEO and founder of SeeMe, an AI-powered personal archive platform, has secured a £75,000 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award. 

Blake, who is originally from Enniskillen, was selected from a record 1,590 applicants from across the UK. She is one of two women recognised from Northern Ireland, the other being Pragya Sharma, who is the founder of Gran Lab, a Belfast-based research and development platform that treats skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. 

The Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards is in its 10th year and aims to support women in the industry as they scale and grow their ideas and organisations. More than £15m has been invested to date in the 260 women founders who have received the award since it first began in 2016. 

As part of the win, both SeeMe and Gran Lab will receive 12 months of business support, training, networking  and role-modelling opportunities.

Speaking about the UK Women in Innovation Award win, Blake said: “Being one of only 61 successful applicants out of almost 1,600 innovative companies across the UK is a huge validation of the work we have done to date. 

“I am incredibly proud to be an Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award Winner as it provides the type of very real, tangible support that is so essential to companies like SeeMe, which are set to grow globally but which are being built in a local region like Derry City outside of our main traditional economic hubs.”

Tom Adeyoola, the executive chair of Innovate UK, added: “This year’s Women in Innovation cohort represents some of the UK’s most exciting entrepreneurial talent. These founders are developing the ideas, technologies and businesses that will drive economic growth, attract investment and tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. 

“Many of today’s most successful companies started with a bold idea and the right support at the right time. Through Women in Innovation, we are backing founders with the ambition, talent and determination to develop the UK’s most promising companies. Many congratulations to every member of this exceptional cohort.”

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