Sci-Tech Daresbury unveils latest Future Club programme trailblazers

2025 cohort

The fifth cohort of Sci-Tech Daresbury’s Future Club, its exclusive business growth scheme, has been revealed.

Providing a range of technical and business support to innovative science and technology start-ups, the programme will help each business in the intake to realise its growth potential.

Sci-Tech Daresbury has been handpicking five dynamic young businesses to participate in the programme each year since 2021, providing them with access to an invaluable offering of business support and networking opportunities.

This year, the Liverpool City Region campus has selected a group in recognition of their significant business potential in developing products and services to meet technological, environmental, health and social needs.

Companies chosen are working in sectors including AI, materials, the circular economy and healthcare.

As members of the Future Club, the selected companies will benefit from early access to the business growth programmes, partnerships, and communities at the campus, along with its vibrant working environment with a range of hot desk, office, laboratory and workshop facilities across several buildings.

Leading the way and lending their expertise will be Sci-Tech Daresbury’s Gold Partners – 12 handpicked organisations that offer first-class support for Sci-Tech Daresbury companies in a range of business and research areas.

They include Marks and Clerk, Grant Thornton, RTC North – which manages the Innovate UK Edge programme in the North West – and the University of Liverpool.

On top of this, the Future Club, companies will have access to handpicked mentors from the Sci-Tech Daresbury network.

These entrepreneurs with many years of experience and success will nurture these promising early-stage companies with their time, knowledge and expertise, to help them develop and implement positive strategies for their businesses.

The 2025 intake is:

illumeRx, which is transforming medication preparation and delivery, addressing the global challenge of time-intensive processes and errors – key drivers of patient harm and poor outcomes.

Materials Information is developing a SaaS (software as a service) platform that streamlines materials data creation and management across engineering, manufacturing, and sourcing processes to remove the risk of poor material performance, sustainability and choices.

Obelisk AI is a fully service-based company that helps firms and creators grow and scale efficiently through bespoke AI and automation solutions, comprehensively analysing operations to identify pinpoint areas for improvement and simulate massive ROI, enabling clients to achieve sustainable growth and maintain a competitive edge in their respective industries.

OCUWELL is transforming ocular healthcare with its cutting edge corneal topography device, which not only meets, but exceeds, industry expectations by incorporating innovative features derived from extensive research. Its integrated dry eye management capabilities further enhance its value and appeal in the market.

RentAbout is a groundbreaking force in the sharing and circular economy, offering an innovative platform for peer-to-peer rental transactions of equipment for use in home and garden as well as sports and leisure, electronics and photography and other categories. Its mission is to empower local communities to generate an income from items they hardly use and to help to save the planet, one rental at a time.

2024’s Future Club intake included AI-Sight, a University of Liverpool AI diagnostic technology spin-out.

Following the successful conclusion of a seven-figure equity funding round from experienced healthcare industry figures and investors, CEO, Dr Steve Powell, said: “This latest funding milestone would not have been possible without the support of the team at Sci-Tech Daresbury.

“The Future Club programme has been instrumental in us making the connections that have enabled our growth to date.”

John Leake, business growth director at Sci-Tech Daresbury said: “The Future Club programme was an initiative conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic to give early stage companies a ‘turbocharge’ of expertise, experience and networks to accelerate their growth journey.

“This is in keeping with Sci-Tech Daresbury’s “Home for Life” vision to see locally based innovative tech companies grow and scale through the range of facilities and support on the campus.”

He added: ““Over the past five years we have enjoyed working with spin-out businesses from the universities of Liverpool and Manchester, experienced serial entrepreneurs and first time entrepreneurs.

“Many of these companies have stayed and grown on the campus and become a key part of our community here.”

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