OmniCompete
OmniCompete was a United Kingdom-based organisation that designed and operated international innovation competitions and prize challenges.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
OmniCompete was an organisation specialising in the creation and operation of innovation competitions. Its model connected governments, corporations, investors, entrepreneurs, startups and small and medium-sized enterprises through open innovation challenges, with cash prizes offered for solutions to defined problems. The organisation worked across sectors including security, cybersecurity, energy storage, social innovation and cloud computing. The roots of OmniCompete lay in the Global Security Challenge, an initiative conceived at London Business School in 2005 by MBA students Simon Schneider and Janeen Chupa-Brimacombe. The founders established the Global Security Challenge in 2006, and the competition subsequently became an annual platform for identifying security-related technologies and companies. OmniCompete later broadened the model beyond security. Its Energy Storage Challenge and health-focused activities were initiated in 2010, while the umbrella company OmniCompete Limited was established in the same year. A United States subsidiary, OmniCompete Inc., was incorporated in 2011. The organisation promoted open innovation by publishing challenge themes, soliciting entries and selecting winners or finalists through competition-based processes. Its programmes were intended to provide innovators with more than prize money: participation could also offer visibility, access to prospective customers and investors, and routes to partnerships or acquisition. The company reported having hosted more than 20 international competitions in areas such as security, energy, social innovation and cloud computing, with aggregate prizes exceeding $2.9 million. Individual programmes included the Global Security Challenge, Energy Storage Challenge, Cyber Security Challenge and Health Pitch Battlefield. Examples associated with the competitions included Australian security company iwebgate, Ghanaian startup mPedigree, Kromek, Ksplice, TenCube, Vumii, Secerno and DecaWave. Their technologies covered network security, medicine authentication, liquid-threat detection, software maintenance and other security applications. Some participants later attracted investment or were acquired, reinforcing OmniCompete's positioning as a discovery and acceleration platform for emerging technology companies. In February 2012, OmniCompete was acquired by InnoCentive, an open-innovation and crowdsourcing company. The acquisition marked the integration of OmniCompete's competition-design and sector expertise into InnoCentive's broader innovation-services business. Publicly available reference material does not establish the brand's present standalone operating status, leadership structure or whether all of its former programmes continue under the OmniCompete name.
History
OmniCompete emerged from the Global Security Challenge, whose concept was developed at London Business School in 2005 by Simon Schneider and Janeen Chupa-Brimacombe while they were completing MBA studies. The founders established the Global Security Challenge in 2006 as a recurring international competition focused on security technologies and companies. The programme sought to identify practical innovations from startups and small and medium-sized enterprises rather than relying solely on conventional procurement or research channels. The security competition became the foundation for a broader innovation platform. By 2010, the organisation had begun applying its competition model to energy storage and health-related innovation. OmniCompete Limited was established as the umbrella company in 2010, and OmniCompete Inc. was incorporated in the United States in 2011. The company also developed challenges and events involving cybersecurity, social innovation and cloud computing. OmniCompete's operating model was based on open innovation and prize-based selection. Sponsors or programme organisers defined a technical or commercial problem, and participating innovators submitted products, concepts or company profiles for evaluation. Winners received financial awards, while finalists could gain exposure to investors, strategic partners and potential customers. The organisation stated that it had delivered more than 20 international competitions and distributed more than $2.9 million in prizes in total. Public descriptions identify London as its base and describe an international scope. Its documented competition portfolio included the Global Security Challenge, Energy Storage Challenge, Cyber Security Challenge and Health Pitch Battlefield. Participants and award recipients included iwebgate, mPedigree, Kromek and Ksplice. iwebgate received the 2010 Best Security SME award in a programme with a reported $300,000 prize fund. mPedigree was recognised for a text-message system that enabled consumers and patients to check the authenticity of medicines using product-specific codes. Kromek was associated with liquid-threat detection technology, while Ksplice won a 2009 cyber-security competition for software enabling system updates without conventional downtime. The competition network also included finalists such as TenCube, Vumii, Secerno and DecaWave. Reference material notes that several participants subsequently obtained investment or were acquired, including TenCube, which was acquired by McAfee, and Ksplice, which was acquired by Oracle. These later outcomes helped illustrate the commercial-discovery role that OmniCompete sought to provide, although they were not necessarily transactions conducted by OmniCompete itself. In February 2012, InnoCentive acquired OmniCompete. The transaction connected OmniCompete's international competition expertise with InnoCentive's wider open-innovation marketplace and services. After the acquisition, public information about OmniCompete as an independent operating brand became limited. One original founder later co-founded the crowdsharing platform Zyncd in 2014. Available reference material does not reliably document a current standalone OmniCompete management team, ongoing programme schedule or separate corporate status.
- 2014
Founder later co-founded Zyncd
[1]One of OmniCompete's original founders subsequently co-founded the crowdsharing platform Zyncd.
- 2012
Acquired by InnoCentive
[1]InnoCentive acquired OmniCompete in February, integrating its innovation-competition capabilities into a larger open-innovation business.
- 2011
United States subsidiary incorporated
[1]OmniCompete Inc. was incorporated in the United States.
- 2010
OmniCompete Limited established and portfolio expanded
[1]The umbrella company was formed, while the organisation launched or developed initiatives in energy storage and health alongside its security work.
- 2009
Cybersecurity competition recognised Ksplice
[1]Ksplice won a cyber-security challenge for technology supporting seamless software updates.
- 2006
Global Security Challenge founded
[1]Schneider and Chupa-Brimacombe established the Global Security Challenge as an annual competition for security innovation.
- 2005
Global Security Challenge concept developed
[1]The concept that later developed into the Global Security Challenge was formulated at London Business School by Simon Schneider and Janeen Chupa-Brimacombe.
Products and positioning
A specialist open-innovation organisation that used international prize competitions to identify, evaluate and promote emerging technology companies and solutions.
Security innovation competition · 2006
Global Security Challenge
OmniCompete's originating competition and one of its best-known programmes. It ran annually and focused on identifying security technologies, startups and SMEs with potential applications in commercial, governmental and critical-infrastructure settings.
Energy innovation competition · 2010
Energy Storage Challenge
A competition initiative created as OmniCompete expanded beyond security. It applied the organisation's prize-challenge model to technologies and companies working on energy-storage problems.
Cybersecurity innovation competition · 2009
Cyber Security Challenge
A challenge programme focused on cybersecurity solutions. Ksplice is identified as a 2009 winner for software that improved the security, reliability and maintainability of systems through seamless updates.
Health innovation competition · 2010
Health Pitch Battlefield
A health-focused pitch and innovation competition included in OmniCompete's broader portfolio after the organisation expanded into health-related activities.
Marketing campaigns
- 2010Best Security SME competition
International
A security-technology competition that evaluated small and medium-sized enterprises, including Australian company iwebgate.
Outcome. iwebgate received the 2010 Best Security SME prize in a competition reported as having a $300,000 prize fund.
- 2010Health innovation activities
International
OmniCompete expanded its open-innovation activity into healthcare, including the Health Pitch Battlefield.
Outcome. The initiative broadened the organisation's sector coverage beyond security and energy.
- 2009Cyber Security Challenge
International
A cybersecurity-focused challenge that included Ksplice among its recognised innovators.
Outcome. Ksplice won for seamless software-update technology and was later acquired by Oracle.
- 2006Global Security Challenge
International
An annual competition designed to identify promising security startups, SMEs and technologies from around the world.
Outcome. The programme became the foundation for OmniCompete's broader open-innovation competition platform.
Brand decisions
2012
InnoCentive acquisitionM&ABackground
OmniCompete had developed a portfolio of international innovation competitions and related expertise in finding emerging technology companies.
Action taken
InnoCentive acquired OmniCompete in February 2012.
Aftermath
OmniCompete became part of InnoCentive's broader open-innovation activities, while publicly documented information about the brand as a standalone organisation became limited.
2010
Expand from security into multiple innovation sectorsStrategyBackground
The organisation had originated with a security-focused competition but sought to apply its prize-based open-innovation model more broadly.
Action taken
OmniCompete developed initiatives in energy storage, health, social innovation and cloud computing while retaining its security programmes.
Aftermath
The expanded portfolio reportedly grew to more than 20 international competitions across several sectors.
Recent events
- 2012
OmniCompete acquired by InnoCentive[1]
M&A
InnoCentive acquired OmniCompete in February 2012, bringing the organisation's innovation-competition capabilities and challenge portfolio into InnoCentive's open-innovation business.
- 2010
OmniCompete expanded beyond security competitions[1]
Other
The organisation broadened its activities through an Energy Storage Challenge and health-related initiatives, alongside the formation of OmniCompete Limited.
Sources2 sources
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