Tatton Consulting

Mark Clayton

New 100% funded Grant x Investor innovation grant scheme open 🚀

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Grants available for innovative Healthy Ageing, Clean Energy and Plastics Innovation projects up to £1.5m  

The 2021 Innovate UK grants activity is starting to kick into life with the opening of an exciting new Investor Partnership Grants Programme.

UK companies can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners – presenting a unique opportunity for 100% funding.

Investor partnership programmes combine Innovate UK’s expertise in identifying innovation with their investor partners’ expertise in identifying opportunities that will benefit the most from extra investment. Giving your business access to the capital it needs to develop, grow and commercialise your innovations.
 
Here’s what you need to know

100% funding available (typically 50% grant funding | 50% investment) Total project costs up to ~£1.5m Open to UK SMEs only Investment negotiated directly and bespoke to each client Application is by invitation-only Interested parties need to first contact the relevant investors ASAP Tatton Consulting can support businesses invited to apply by the investor 

The Investor Partnership Programmes and associated investor partners are as follows:

 Ageing Society Grand Challenge Investment Partnerships: Barclays Ventures
Available to businesses developing products that support people as they age, allowing people to remain active, independent and self-sufficient for as long as possible.
FIND OUT MORE

Ageing Society Grand Challenge Investment Partnerships: Legal and General
Available to businesses who help people age better, via projects such as: sustaining physical activity; maintaining health at work; designing for age-friendly homes; living well with cognitive impairment; supporting social connections. 
FIND OUT MORE
 
Ageing Society Grand Challenge Investment Partnerships: Northstar Ventures
Available to innovative businesses throughout County Durham, Tyne & Wear and Northumberland in the healthy ageing sector undertaking R&D projects up to two years, comprising feasibility studies or industrial research.
FIND OUT MORE

Clean Growth Innovation Fund: ENGIE
Available to innovative projects that decarbonise, digitise and decentralise energy, and help achieve a sustainable transition to cleaner energy.
FIND OUT MORE

Plastics Innovation and Investment Fund: Sky Ocean Ventures
A £4 million total grant fund available to UK businesses developing solutions to help the ocean plastic crisis, for total eligible project costs between £100K – £600k.
FIND OUT MORE
Your Next Steps:
  Applications are by invitation only. If any of the above programmes are of interest, contact the Investor Partner directly via the relevant partner’s website ASAP to register your interest. Each Investor Partner will have a different process and criteria for registering your interest and deciding who to invite to apply. 

If you’re invited to apply for the scheme, let the Team know here at Tatton Consulting and from there we’ll help you with the application process and shaping yours for the best chance of success.
  For more information about planning an application,
come and talk to the Team at Tatton Consulting

Tatton-backed vertical farming startup wins £500K funding to develop ‘all in one’ sensor

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Derby-based Light Science Technologies delivers lighting, science and research-proven plant monitoring technology and software in partnership with world-leading university research teams. It delivers the right solution across multiple indoor applications such as vertical farming, medicinal plants and greenhouses. Its full turnkey solution for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) applications for next-generation scalable farming helps customers grow more with less.

Investment to boost agricultural productivity

Light Science Technologies just secured part of the £90M government investment to support the most innovative technology to boost agricultural productivity and set food production systems towards net zero emissions by 2040.

Furthermore, it is one of the 23 feasibility projects that has been awarded £250,000 from £4.3M funding that is meant for Science and Technology into Practice feasibility competition, a as part of UKRI’s £90 million Transforming Food Production (TFP) programme. Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas. Notably, Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation.

Simon Deacon, CEO of Light Science Technologies added: “This is an especially important boost to our business. To be selected by Innovate UK is confirmation of the urgent need for more sustainable, productive and cost-effective solutions in farming. Investment in UK technology and innovation in this sector is crucial in achieving a better approach to agricultural production and reducing emissions.”

Innovate UK Executive Chair Dr Ian Campbell said: “There are many innovative projects in our latest feasibility competition showcasing ideas for improving productivity and cutting emissions that range across the whole agricultural sector, from arable, to livestock, to sensor technology and to new biopesticides. Our funding and support for these projects is ongoing.”

Groundbreaking sensor technology

Along with partnership with Nottingham Trent University, the company will lead the project to develop a growing sensor and innovative transmission node for vertical farms over the next six months, which is in synergy with their light and science offering.Open banking boosting fintech growth: London-based Token snaps £11M funding to expand across Europe

The IoT precision data solution for vertical farming will help in boosting 0roductivity and efficiency, thereby reflecting the government’s drive to help the agricultural sector grow economically with less environmental impact.

Light Science Technologies’ ‘all in one’ indoor farm sensor will let farms to monitor and control their environment by measuring key areas such as light, water, air, temperature, humidity, oxygen and soil, thereby ensuring optimal plant productivity and yield. Also, this sensor will form a vital part of its bespoke offering, reducing energy and saving costs using technology and real-time data.

Demand for CEA market!

Of late, there is a growing demand for the the Controlled Environment Agricultural (CEA) market, which is growing fast at a CAGR of 21%. The demand is mainly from AgTech CEA farmers looking to install or replace existing indoor farms to achieve maximum yield on crops for optimum profitability. However, the high startup costs attract investment from stakeholders eyeiny the potentially significant ROI opportunity.

Light Science Technologies provides custom-made solution for the CEA market, and works with growers to provide an integrated, cost effective and low maintenance solution that can be used across different crops to achieve maximum yield. Eventually, it creates the full growing recipe of lighting, nutrients and environment.

Notably, Light Science Technologies is focused on becoming a technology-driven trailblazer in vertical farming innovation and technology over the next four years as it eyes to shape up the future of the CEA market.

Two of Tatton’s Medtech clients featured in an industry ‘ones to watch’ list.

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Big AI projects in medicine to watch in 2020

Significant, transformational grants won for both this year – 2021 should see them rocket in growth 🚀 #grants #innovateuk #disrupt #tattonconsulting #startups #innovation #venturecapital

Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to touch medicine in many different ways, from making diagnoses to triaging patients. Many AI enterprises will make headlines in 2020:

GlobalData’s medical devices writer Chloe Kent singles out three big projects to watch this year.

Abtrace battles against antimicrobial resistance

Kent says:

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest ongoing threats to global health, estimated to cause 25,000 deaths and 2.5 million extra hospital stays per year in Europe alone.

Leading the fight against antimicrobial resistance in the tech world is Abtrace, an AI platform designed to help clinicians prescribe the most appropriate antibiotic for each individual patient they see in their practice. When around 30% of antibiotic prescriptions are inappropriate, this couldn’t come at a more vital time.

The platform makes its recommendations through a process known as natural language processing (NLP), where a patient’s healthcare notes are processed through Abtrace’s augmented decision-making tool. In seconds, it presents a recommendation for whether or not an antibiotic should be prescribed, and which antibiotic would be appropriate if so.

Abtrace is a European Institute of Technology Health (EIT Health) Wild Card Project, and will receive up to €2m from the organization to help commercialize the product.”

Pexxi genetic testing aims to decode contraception

Kent says:

Many women who choose to use hormonal contraceptives, such as the pill, implant or ring, have to navigate several different options through trial-and-error until they are able to find a medication that works for them.

The side effects associated with hormonal contraceptives, such as acne, weight gain, anxiety and depression, can have a huge effect on a person’s life, and it can take months or even years before a woman is able to settle on one with no or only minimal adverse effects.

Healthtech start-up Pexxi is aiming to end the contraceptive roulette wheel through AI-powered genetic testing. Users give Pexxi a spit sample, which contains enough information about where their progesterone and estrogen levels naturally sit, as well as whether they have any genetic predispositions to the potential side-effects of one type of pill over another. Pexxi then provides a list of the contraceptive pills the person is most likely to tolerate, with plans to eventually expand to include the implant and ring as well. Pexxi is currently in beta-testing stages, with a plan to eventually reach customers through a 23andMe-style model where they’ll pay a fee to use its services.”

Source:

GlobalData

Tatton appointed the official Grants Partner of KQ Labs @ The Francis Crick Institute

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Run once a year by the Crick and supported by LifeArc, ten start-ups with the potential to make an impact on global health outcomes have access to unrivalled support and resources.

KQ Labs helps early-stage data-driven health startup founders to validate their ideas and put their startups on a path to receive investment from business angel investors, venture capital and other sources including non-dilutive funding in the form of grants.

The accelerator is called KQ Labs to represent the ‘Knowledge Quarter’ area around the King’s Cross, Euston and Bloomsbury regions of the city. The KQ Labs accelerator represents a unique opportunity to foster a vibrant ecosystem for data-driven health.

The 16-week programme includes funding (£40k) in the form of a convertible loan, weekly workshops with experts tailored to digital health, training in transferable skills, mentoring by a hand-picked network of experts, and discussions with investors and corporates. In addition, the KQ Labs network facilitates access to data (eg from Health Data Research UK or Genomics England) for start-ups that need to validate their technology further. The programme culminates in a Demo Day, when the startups pitch their propositions to potential investors and partners. All selected startup teams have access to a powerful network of global experts in entrepreneurship, health sector expertise, data science and investment strategies.                                                                           

KQ Labs logo

The KQ Labs accelerator programme

  • Specialised investor introductions
  • Introductions to major corporates, especially pharma
  • Mentoring opportunities with a hand-picked network of experts
  • Tailored and customised weekly workshops covering:
    • Data accessibility and ethics
    • Finance and fundraising
    • Customer and market focus
    • Leadership and team building
    • Communications and pitching practice
    • Regulatory requirements
    • Protecting Intellectual Property
    • Corporate legal aspects
    • Market access (UK and international)
    • Scaling
    • Grant funding and writing

Alumni

Find out more about the previous cohorts of KQ Labs start-ups on our alumni page.

£350k grant for Byotrol and Liverpool University to explore the anti-viral properties of seaweed

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Researchers at Byotrol plc and the University of Liverpool are set to investigate the anti-viral properties of seaweed.

The new project is a collaboration with industrial partner Byotrol plc and will focus on the potential use of anti-viral seaweed compounds in sanitising products, such as hand gels and household cleaners.

The team has been awarded £350K of funding by Innovate UK to carry out the work over the next 16 months.

Easily spread and immune to antibiotics, viruses are very difficult to eradicate and even more expensive to treat, with a limited number of anti-viral solutions. Despite rapid advances in medical and cleaning technology, viruses such as norovirus, influenza and coronavirus continue to pose a major threat to human health and cost the UK billions each year.

AIM-listed hygiene group Byotrol has, for some time, been investigating sustainably sourced anti-virals and has found certain forms of seaweed to have particularly good potential.

The University’s Molecular Virology Research Group will use their expertise to characterise the anti-viral component of the seaweed, evaluate the efficacy of a much broader range of seaweed species and determine its anti-viral mode of action.

Professor James Stewart, who is leading the project at the University of Liverpool, said: “The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to develop new anti-viral countermeasures, especially ones that are environmentally sustainable. We are excited to be working with Byotrol on the development of these compounds.”

Dr Trevor Francis, Chief Technology Officer of Byotrol plc, said: “We are delighted that Innovate UK is supporting our research into the anti-viral properties of seaweeds and we are very pleased to be working on this project with Professor James Stewart’s excellent team at the University of Liverpool. It is a very exciting area of development for Byotrol.”/Public Release. The material in this public release comes from the originating organization and may be of a point-in-time nature, edited for clarity, style and length. View in full here.