£1.6m for 19 North West pioneers
A GROUP of 19 small and medium-sized North West firms that are working on pioneering new ideas, including seven from Sci-Tech Daresbury, will share of £1.6m in funding.
They have secured cash from the Materials and Manufacturing Launchpad which is run by the government’s Technology Strategy Board to help commercialise new ideas.
They will now be expected to attract match funding while working up business plans with the support of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) based at Daresbury Laboratory which is part of Sci-Tech.
Paul Vernon, head of campus development at the STFC, said: “This funding is crucial to businesses of this size. What many companies also need at this stage are the skills to attract follow-up funding to move to the next level.
“STFC with its business support and research expertise will work with those companies, showing them how to build business cases, offering market development advice and providing the opportunity to pitch to potential investors. This will give them the best possible chance of securing further investment in the future.”
The winning companies based at Sci-Tech Daresbury:
• NanoFlex, which has produced the first high performance electrode for electrochemistry, a branch of chemistry important in everyday life, whose processes are essential in everything from producing bleach to powering the flash in a digital camera.
• Arcis Biotechnology, which has developed a technique for deconstructing cells to release and protect DNA for several hours during a medical diagnosis.
• ESP Technology Limited, which is responsible for an advanced new materials technology to resolve some of the serious medical complications that can occur after haemodialysis – a procedure carried out in the event of kidney failure.
• LPW Technology, responsible for optimised powders for sustainable additive manufacturing.
• Perceptive Engineering, which improves the repeat use of consumer products across global supply chains by visualising interactions between raw materials, process and products.
• Teknisolar. It has developed a technology enabling the lamination of photovoltaic panels at very high rates which benefit from greatly reduced running costs and energy consumption compared to current laminators available on the market.
• GEM Nutrition. It has produced an electronic system that tells users exactly how many calories their body needs.
The other 12 are centred around Runcorn Heath Business & Technical Park.
Materials and Manufacturing Launchpad winners
• 2DHeat. It has devised a new “bake-out” coating for ultra -high vacuum systems.
• Advanced Laser Technology. A laser applied surface shielding technique using a gel to decrease the manufacturing process saving time, energy, and material use to create less waste, and minimise storage
• AeroDNA. Online system enabling high value manufacturing companies to input and integrate their production systems and provide visibility of internal and external performance to partners.
• Air Quality Research. Energy saving air sanitisation device improving indoor air quality.
• Climostat. Recycling technology to convert carbon dioxide into valuable and saleable chemical products.
• Croft Additive manufacturing. A new in-house testing system using 3D filter designs, for innovative Additive Manufactured Filters decreasing the pressure drop across filters thereby decreasing the energy and time needed for pumping.
• Db brew and food. A magnetic mixture process for the treatment of contaminated soil and sand sediments, drinking water, waste water and industrial processing.
• Fusion Implants. Canine implant technology to be used in routine surgery for cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) repair.
• Nanomedpharma (NMP). Smart antibacterial materials using metallic nanoparticles.
• New Lighting Technologies. A new Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS) Driver system – which regulates heat through LEDs resulting in power usage reduction & increasing overall efficiency to levels greater than 90%.
• Spheritech. A new biopolymer which mimics the biological and physical properties associated with collagen to be used in the treatment of wounds. Compared to animal derived collagen, this material is inexpensive to manufacture and contains no components of animal origin.
• Trametox. Low cost and robust radiation detectors capable of monitoring all forms of radioactivity, including neutrons.
