Individuals and businesses with innovative ideas are legion in the West Midlands, but taking those innovative ideas to market is a huge challenge. Venturefest West Midlands featured four businesses who had made significant progress towards this goal as a result of the five accelerators under the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator umbrella.
The companies were developing innovative technologies that addressed important social and environmental challenges. Cytecom are an infectious disease diagnostic technology company, who have developed a device to rapidly assess which antibiotic will be most effective against an infection; which currently takes up to three days. Future Energy are a company that has developed a pyrolysis system turning organic waste into biochar and other higher value bioproducts. AceOn have developed a battery system for a cruise vessel which is recharged onboard using a green hydrogen system. Finally Novoville are working to pull together data about homes from a range of different places in order to better plan more appropriate energy retrofit programmes.
All of the companies showcased credited the Innovation Accelerator with jump-starting their journeys. In the first instance, the quick release of thousands of pounds to help each company develop their technology was an obvious but critical first step. Additionally, the accelerators provided the companies with a network of introductions. The West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA) connected Cytecom with a comprehensive local community; with local research and educational institutions, with MTC who provided technology expertise, with IP attorneys, with the NHS, and with regulators. The Biochar Accelerator provided Future Energy with access to the technology, the industrial base and supply chain, the technology and the expertise it needed to develop its services. For AceOn, the Clean Futures Accelerator provided Demonstrator Days at BCIMO (Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation), at which they were introduced to Tier 1 suppliers. This helped AceOn overcome a key challenge – getting customers to view their products. Finally, the Accelerators provided the opportunity to work with customers to develop innovative technology in step with the customer needs. Novoville could not have solved the challenge of domestic energy retrofit data from first principles; it would take too long. Instead Novoville focused on specific challenges of tenant education and contractor co-ordination, and deployed their software to help address them in the DIATOMIC Accelerator.
The Accelerator has demonstrated the value and opportunities of supporting innovative businesses locally. AceOn is committed to the region; the CEO lives locally, their batteries are made in Coventry, and the company is committed to remaining British owned and paying taxes in the UK. For Future Energy, the region already provides all the components they need, meaning their supply chains are shorter and more resilient. Cytecom spun out of the University of Warwick and is supported by the University still, but would have moved to London were it not for the WMHTIA. For Novoville, the best use case in responding to the retrofit challenge is here in the region; Birmingham City Council is the biggest local authority in the country and owns the most housing stock.
The Accelerator has been valuable and provided important lessons. All of the companies have grown as a result of their involvement in the accelerators, providing new jobs and offering new products. Novoville argued that accelerators could have a valuable role in government procurement as standard. Often tenders do not match what the market can provide; accelerators can educate the buyer and provide a framework for the customer and service provider to work together. All the showcased companies called for better transition support going forwards; accelerators in general take companies to a critical point, but then, due to the essentially artificial timeline of the accelerators which do not match business development timelines, companies can be left ‘hanging’. However the companies argued that the Accelerator had perhaps been more beneficial than traditional private investment. AceOn argued that their approach was not to search for investors but for customers, which the Clean Futures Accelerator directly supported. Novoville shared this view – often investors are only interested in companies which can demonstrate sales. DIATOMIC helped this innovative company secure its first customer.
These four companies showcase some of the best locally grown, socially valuable technology innovation. The West Midlands Innovation Accelerator should rightly be proud to have supported and grown these innovators, who could not have been so successful without this place-based programme.
Beck Collins, Sustainability West Midlands
Slingshot