Yesterday (31 May), the Royal Academy of Engineering's Enterprise Hub gave 14 hub members a platform to attract support and funding from Britain’s leading engineers and investors.
The evening celebrated the UK’s most promising deep technology and engineering entrepreneurs, providing an opportunity to secure commercial backing for their innovations.
Last year, nearly £27m investment was secured by Enterprise Hub members in fields closely aligned to the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Fresh research from the Enterprise Hub underlines the importance of such events for the many engineering enterprises from outside London.
A poll of Britain’s engineering community found just 15% based outside London had founded their own firm, in contrast to 63% in the capital.
According to the Royal Academy, one explanation for this may lie in attitudes to risk. Those outside London were 23% more likely to hold back due to worries that they might fail. Two thirds of the entrepreneurs bidding for support at this year’s Showcase are based outside London.
Since 2013, the Enterprise Hub has supported over 100 entrepreneurs and SMEs, helping to develop ideas into investable, high-growth companies.
To date, 70 high growth startups have been established generating 300 jobs in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to healthcare technology.
The 160 guests at last night’s event included the UK’s leading engineers, venture capitalists and investors. The evening provided an opportunity for the entrepreneurs supported by the Enterprise Hub to recruit support for their business ventures.
It is the culmination of more than a year’s support from the Enterprise Hub, helping those with engineering ideas to develop the skills and confidence to take their business to the next level.
Three out of 14 hub members, who presented their ideas yesterday in a punchy three-minute-pitch, target manufacturing industries. Here you can find a short summary of their business ideas:
NitroPep (based in County Durham)
NitroPep is an antibacterial coating for metal surfaces that kills bacteria on contact.
NitroPep’s active agent is incorporated during a post-manufacturing thermal treatment process, resulting in a metal that looks like brushed steel and works continuously to kill bacteria.
Self-cleaning surfaces could help to prevent some of the 37,000 deaths caused by healthcare-associated infections each year in Europe, and founder and CSO, Dr Felicity de Cogan hopes that NitroPep will be used in hospital facilities, such as operating theatres and washrooms, to help prevent such infections.
Flexypix (based in Cambridge)
Flexypix manufactures plastic window film that changes from completely transparent to opaque to control privacy and the intensity of ambient light entering a room.
The displays use a unique liquid-crystal material that transforms at the flick of a switch and can be integrated into glass windows.
The technology only requires power while switching states and is both cost and energy efficient. Flexypix offers privacy, control, customisation and novelty to enhance any transparent surface.
Hexigone Inhibitors Ltd (based in Wales)
Hexigone Inhibitors addresses a worldwide issue facing coatings manufacturers and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).
Mutagenic and carcinogenic chemicals face a total ban in the EU, so to replace these, the company offers smart-release micro- and nano-reservoir systems of inhibitors.
The additives enable the coatings to protect for longer in an intelligent manner, increasing the lifetime cycle of the end product.
Hexigone is currently working with several large multinationals in the EU and US across several sectors.
The Manufacturer – Manufacturing Innovation Summit 2018
On 20 June 2018, Exhibition Centre Liverpool
Manufacturing Innovation Summit brings together directors, executive managers and heads of business units in an interactive format that sits delegates alongside some of the UK’s most experienced directors and experts from world class solution providers – with an emphasis on expertly-led small group discussions.
Be part of the conversation and register for your place today!
