Affineva wins Gulleggið 2026

The biotech team Affineva won the 2026 Gulleggið (the Golden Egg) final, held on 26 February 2026. Affineva is developing new technology to purify and isolate extracellular vesicles, tiny particles cells use to transfer various material. The aim is to use this approach to deliver cancer drugs more precisely to cancer cells and support the development of next-generation cancer therapies and diagnostics.

Affineva’s team includes Berglind Eva Benediktsdóttir and Páll Þór Ingvarsson, associate professors at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Iceland, and Jens Guðmundur Hjörleifsson, assistant professor at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences.

IORDEN second, Norrstone third

Ten teams competed in the final and presented their ideas to a jury representing the competition’s partners. Borghildur Erlingsdóttir, Director General of the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office (ISIPO), served on the jury on behalf of ISIPO.

IORDEN placed second with an AI- and automation-based solution to simplify and improve quality control for small-scale food producers. Norrstone placed third with a digital jewellery ecosystem based on blockchain-backed digital certificates to support authentication, insurance, loyalty programmes and resale. The top three teams received cash prizes from Landsbankinn.

IP support from ISIPO

ISIPO will provide tailored IP advice to Affineva and a few other selected finalist teams. In addition, the teams will be offered a free patent consultation search carried out by a patent search specialist at the Nordic Patent Institute, aimed at giving inventors an initial indication of the novelty of their invention.

Honourary award to Lavashow

The Heiðursegg (honourary award) for Gulleggið 2026 was awarded to Lavashow, recognising the entrepreneurial work involved in building a company over time. Laveshow participated in Gulleggið in 2016.

IORDEN to GEN-E in Riga

Alongside cash prizes, teams compete for partner awards such as specialised mentoring, facilities and guidance. Junior Achievement Iceland (Ungir frumkvöðlar) awarded IORDEN the opportunity to participate in the GEN-E innovation competition in Riga, Latvia.

Gulleggið, organised by KLAK – Icelandic Startups, is Iceland’s largest and longest-running startup competition and has been an important launchpad for early-stage ideas since 2008. ISIPO is a proud partner of Gulleggið.