Nearly 1,200 companies across the UK will share £134 million of new Innovate UK investment through its latest dedicated COVID-19 innovation recovery fund.
Winners from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation Fund (SIF) have been confirmed today (Wednesday 4 November) by Business Secretary Alok Sharma.
All successful companies are developing ‘green innovations’ with sustainability at their heart.
These include technologies, which, among many examples, support remote music classrooms and mental health care to those that make food and packaging products from seaweed and robots that automatically repair potholes in the road.
Through the SIF, Innovate UK has targeted companies needing to keep their great ideas alive during the current pandemic, who in turn will contribute to revolutions across whole sectors and transforming the way people live, work and travel.
Investing across the UK
Companies supported by this latest phase of investment are based across every nation and region of the UK, in a variety of familiar city and more rural locations.
Each successful company will receive up to £175,000 to accelerate commercial production of their innovative products and services.
For a smaller number, their award is the first phase of a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition that addresses specific net zero and clean growth challenges as part of the government’s pledge to tackle climate change.
Just some examples
- The Smart Container Company, Pontypridd: turning beer kegs into smart containers using artificial intelligence technology, helping prevent £5bn waste each year.
- MAS Design Products, Poole: developing lighter, more portable and more affordable bikes and e-bikes.
- Fernhay, Birmingham: creating zero-emissions equipment for freight deliveries in cities.
- Seawater Solutions, Glasgow: turning degraded, redundant or vacant land into thriving urban wetlands.
- Novalia, Cambridge: replacing traditional touchscreens with sensors which allow use of shoes and feet to control a screen through movement.
- Camlin Technologies, Lisburn: removing contaminants from wastewater to support improved recycling.
More to come
On top of today’s announcement, the SIF will invest a further £70 million in hundreds more companies through other funding rounds either still open or yet to be finalised.
SIF is a cornerstone of the £1.25 billion investment package announced by the Chancellor back in April to help ambitious, innovative businesses survive and thrive during the current pandemic.
The best of British business innovation
Innovate UK Executive Chair Dr Ian Campbell said:
"In these difficult times we have seen the best of British business innovation. The pandemic is not just a health emergency but one that impacts society and the economy.
Every initiative Innovate UK has supported here is an important step forward in driving sustainable economic development. Each one is also helping to realise the ambitions of hard-working people."
This article was first published on 4 November by UKRI.
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