Kellogg student’s start-up CardioCare recognised at #StartedinOxford Showcase
Hanyu Wang, DPhil candidate in Oxford Population Health, has been named runner-up at this year’s #StartedinOxford Showcase, a flagship celebration of Oxford’s entrepreneurial community.
Hanyu, whose research investigates trans-ethnic risk factors for myocardial infarction, has a background in cardiovascular epidemiology from Cambridge and has worked on projects with Imperial College, NTU Medical School and UNICEF.
The Showcase, held in Blackwell Hall at the Weston Library, brought together 15 emerging start-ups from Oxford and the surrounding area, attracting over 250 attendees. In a freshers’ fair-style setting, each team pitched their innovation to the public, who awarded ‘investments’ in the form of #StartedinOxford pounds.
The competition highlighted a wide range of cutting-edge ideas, from AI-powered peer support networks for people with rare diseases to novel nanotechnology for sorting plastic waste. CardioCare, co-founded by Hanyu Wang, Charles Li and Henderson Zhu, develops at-home cardiovascular risk screening kits, aiming to make personalised prevention more accessible.
CardioCare’s solution combines a simple at-home blood test with a digital coaching app. A finger-prick sample provides two drops of blood for a lateral flow test measuring protein markers linked to cardiovascular disease risk. The app then offers tailored advice to help mitigate those risks. The start-up’s focus includes improving risk prediction for ethnic groups historically under-represented in existing models, with a go-to-market strategy that targets both the US and Greater China.
Reflecting on the award, Hanyu said:
‘My co-founders and I were excited that CardioCare, as a new start-up, won recognition at the Showcase. The grant prize money will contribute to our early clinical study sample collection and logistics. More importantly, the event gave us valuable exposure, and we received feedback from scientists and investors and met several potential collaborators.’
CardioCare was awarded £1,000, books on entrepreneurship from Oxford University Innovation, and a guaranteed place on the Oxford University Innovation Director’s Course, commencing in Michaelmas Term 2025.
The CardioCare team is currently running pilot clinical studies and seeking early-stage investment. They will pitch next at the Reuben College Entrepreneurship Forum 2025 on Friday 5 September.
