£10K funding to fast track SME growth up for grabs

A Liverpool-based technical innovation centre has launched a competition to give IoT-led SMEs the opportunity to win a fast track growth package worth up to £10k.

- Image courtesy of Sensor City — Liverpool’s Sensor City is a world-class innovation hub and centre of excellence devoted to the technologies of sensing.

Sensor City, a global hub for the development of sensor technologies and rapid prototyping, has designed the funding package to help start-up and small businesses scale, and boost their competitive advantage and innovative capabilities.

The project is part of the innovation centre’s commitment to make Britain leading in the development of sensor technology, while also building a community of companies that are innovation driven.

The SME growth packages include free hot desk and co-working space within Sensor City for six months and access to specialist laboratories.

Case study: SportsScentia

The smart insole monitor the movement and loading distribution of athletes to predict and prevent injury - image courtesy of SportScientia. — The smart insole monitors the movement and loading distribution of athletes – image courtesy of SportScientia.

Last year, UK-based sports innovation company SportScientia, unveiled a wireless smart insole designed to significantly enhance the performance of football players.

The collaboration saw SportScientia take up hot desking space at Sensor City, as well as gain access to its specialist equipment and technical expertise, including multi-material 3D printers.

This enabled the company to design, fabricate, and 3D print a range of insoles which significantly reduced time to market and minimised costs.

The wireless 3D printed smart insoles collect real-time data to learn a player’s constant baseline by analysing their training load distribution, recovery, and performance.

Joanne Phoenix, interim executive director at Sensor City, said: “The growth package is a fantastic opportunity for start-ups and small businesses to leverage the specialist equipment and technological expertise we have in-house at Sensor City, which will help them to rapidly prototype their ideas and innovations.”

To join the growth programme and be in with a chance of winning, companies must fulfil the following criteria:

Be a registered company of SME status
Work within the sensor or IoT sector
Have an existing product or be looking to develop new ideas

Submissions should be completed by 5pm on Friday 22nd February.