Manchester-based Wull Technologies is set to accelerate the commercial development of its British sheep wool insulation panels after co-founder and commercial director Ruth-Marie Mackrodt secured a prestigious Innovate UK Women in Innovation award.
Mackrodt is one of 61 female founders selected from more than 1,500 applicants to receive the award, which includes £75,000 in project funding alongside a 12-month package of business support, training and networking opportunities.
The funding will support the company’s next phase of growth, including manufacturing scale-up, independent product testing and live demonstration projects as it prepares to bring its patent-pending LAMDA insulation panels to market.
Wull Technologies, a joint venture between Vector Labs and Wool Insulation Wales, has developed rigid insulation panels manufactured from British sheep wool for use in internal and external solid-wall applications.
The company is targeting one of the UK’s major retrofit challenges, with millions of older solid-wall homes requiring improved insulation to meet energy efficiency targets. Unlike many conventional insulation products, LAMDA has been designed as a vapour-permeable rigid panel that improves thermal performance while safely managing moisture, making it suitable for heritage properties, social housing and private retrofit projects.
Over the next year, the company will demonstrate the product in live building projects as it works towards the independent certification and performance evidence needed for wider adoption across the construction industry.
Mackrodt, who co-founded Wool Insulation Wales in 2022 and leads Wull Technologies alongside technical director Liam Britnell, said the award recognises both the company’s work and the wider potential of British wool as an advanced manufacturing material.
Ruth-Marie Mackrodt, Co-Founder and Commercial Director, Wull Technologies.
“I am extremely proud to have received this award, but I see it primarily as recognition of the work being undertaken by the whole Wull Technologies team and of the wider potential of British wool as an advanced material,” she said.
“Britain has a vast number of older solid-wall buildings that urgently need to become warmer and more energy efficient. That work must be carried out in a way that respects how those buildings manage moisture, rather than creating new problems that may only become visible years later.
“This award will help us move LAMDA through the next critical stage – strengthening our manufacturing process, building the independent evidence required by the construction industry and demonstrating the material in real buildings.
“It also gives us an opportunity to show that an overlooked British agricultural resource can become part of a modern, technically credible and circular manufacturing industry.”
The latest funding builds on previous investment in the business. Last year, Wull Technologies secured £300,000 from the University of Manchester Innovation Factory and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s GM Advance Fund, with each organisation investing £150,000. The company also received a £214,000 Innovate UK grant in 2023 to support its initial research programme.
This year’s Women in Innovation programme marks its 10th anniversary and attracted a record 1,590 applications. Since its launch in 2016, the initiative has supported 260 female founders with more than £15m in funding, with previous recipients going on to secure a combined £358m in additional investment.
Tom Adeyoola, executive chair of Innovate UK, said: “This year’s Women in Innovation cohort represents some of the UK’s most exciting entrepreneurial talent. These founders are developing the ideas, technologies and businesses that will drive economic growth, attract investment and tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.
“Many of today’s most successful companies started with bold ideas and the right support at the right time. Through Women in Innovation, we are backing founders with the ambition, talent, and determination to develop the UK’s most promising companies. Many congratulations to every member of this exceptional cohort.”
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