Warwick MBA wins Women In Innovation £75,000 award

Executive MBA graduate Katerina Mouliadou was honoured with a purple plaque after winning a Women in Innovation Award from Innovate UK, in a ceremony at Warwick Business School. 

Katerina, of Coventry, is the founder of LIGNOO, a brand of SLN Sustainability Ltd, and will now be able to utilise a £75,000 grant from Innovate UK to grow her business. LIGNOO is the first brand dedicated to creating genuinely sustainable water bottles. 

“It is a huge honour to get this plaque and thank you so much to Innovate UK,” said Katerina, who still works as Head of Innovation at ATS Global, a digital transformation provider.  

“The MBA was transformative and really helped me focus on what was important to me. When I finished, I knew that I wanted to do something in sustainability. I had always had a list of business ideas in my phone and would then see them coming to life by other businesses, but this time I decided to just register a company to stop me procrastinating.” 

Gaynor Matthews, Senior Innovation and Growth Specialist at Innovate UK Business Growth, Innovate UK's Growth and Scaling Service, first met Katerina two years ago. 

“In 2023 I did a presentation and Katerina reached out to me to share her idea,” she said. “My initial thoughts were she would be entering a saturated market dominated by established brands, however, she knew this and was not satisfied, she wanted to introduce an alternative, something better, something unique - this is true innovation and entrepreneurship at its best. 

“In my first week at Innovate UK I read a brief, and I recognised it was Katerina. I can’t believe how honoured I am to support her over the next 12 months. Her knowledge, passion, and determination will really help other women follow in her path. 

“At Innovate UK, we recognise the critical role women play in driving innovation and growth in the UK. Our programme has helped women champion innovation and seen £11 million invested in more than 200 remarkable women to develop their own businesses - and elevate them as role models to inspire the next generation.” 

Katerina’s flagship product is a drinks bottle made from renewable resources - an answer to the 400 million tonnes of plastic produced globally, of which only 1.5 per cent are bioplastics.  

“Many companies use sustainability as a marketing tool. I wanted to do it right,” said Katerina, who has already won a £15,000 grant for winning Innovate UK’s Unlocking Potential: Begin award, £15,000 for collaborating with a research organisation through Innovate UK's Research and Technology Organisation grant, alongside business support and mentorship through the Design for Growth Programme.

“Innovation isn’t about technology; it is a mindset and about solving real problems.” 

Reaching the top in a man's world

As a young female engineer, Katerina often felt intimidated in what is a male-dominated environment. 

“In this photo,” she said, pointing to a workplace image, “it is all men apart from me. It was the same when I studied engineering. This award matters because it shows the difference one woman can make.” 

Her grandmother, a mechanical engineer who designed tanks, was a powerful influence.  

“She was surrounded by men too, often undervalued and underpaid,” said Katerina. “I thought if she could do it, so could I.” 

Hossam Zeitoun, Reader of Strategy and Behavioural Science and Course Director of the Executive MBA, said: “I remember Katerina as a very keen student who was always interested in bringing what she learned on the MBA to the practitioner world - and that is exactly what she has done with her business. 

“She embodies our core values of curiosity, openness, restlessness and excellence and it is fantastic to see her business idea coming to fruition. We wish her all the best and this award is fully deserved.”  

Discover our Warwick Business School Change Makers.