In the latest of its Enterprise events, Norwich Research Park hosted the final of an Innovation Hothouse competition for start-up companies to win three 12-month virtual tenancies.
In collaboration with the University of East Anglia (UEA) and The Royal Society, eight fledging companies that spun out of Norwich Research Park pitched their business ideas to a panel of experts.
The event was sponsored by Mills & Reeve and #21toWatch – a dedicated campaign to showcase the exciting new companies in the East of England. It was chaired by Dr Soraya Jones, Royal Society entrepreneur-in-residence at UEA.
She said: “At UEA, we aim to support students and academics within the faculty by enhancing their knowledge of entrepreneurship, giving them a greater awareness of the commercialisation process and learning how to be more engaged with the business and investor communities.
“The Innovation Hothouse competition is part of this initiative, and also celebrates all the world-class innovation taking place in the region.”
The top three companies won virtual tenancies for a year. TraitSeq won first place, OPAU came in second place and Ediform achieved third place.
A virtual tenancy enables companies to rent an address at a physical location without having to rent office or laboratory space on a permanent basis. Usually, they sign up on a 12-month contract and pay a monthly fee. Companies can also buy in services or use facilities such as office and laboratory space or meeting rooms on a pro rata basis. Virtual tenancies may also come with other benefits that can help accelerate the growth of a business through things like access to funding, mentors, networks and events.
![Eastern Daily Press: (l-r) Dr Soraya Jones, Prof Sheng Qi, Josh Colmer of TraitSeq, Peter Cowley, Roz Bird]( "Eastern Daily Press: (l-r) Dr Soraya Jones, Prof Sheng Qi, Josh Colmer of TraitSeq, Peter Cowley, Roz Bird")
(l-r) Dr Soraya Jones, Prof Sheng Qi, Josh Colmer of TraitSeq, Peter Cowley, Roz Bird (Image: Chris Ball Photography)
TraitSeq
Traitseq is a spin-out from the Earlham Institute which uses revolutionary AI-based machine-learning to predict complex agricultural traits and then input efficacy with a high degree of accuracy. This helps accelerate the development of new crops and products for breeders as well as agrochemical and gene-editing companies. It will enable the precise selection of varieties for specific locations and conditions that can lead to significant yield improvements and a much shorter product development timeline.
TraitSeq’s Josh Colmer said: “We are delighted to be chosen as the winner of the competition and, importantly, to be awarded a year’s free virtual tenancy at Norwich Research Park, which will help us enormously in developing our product.
“Being able to rent office space at Centrum just when we need it is a big plus. And we will also benefit from the networking, brand awareness, access to funding and collaboration opportunities that it offers. Having Norwich Research Park as our address will certainly help to open new doors.”
OPAU
A spin-out from UEA’s School of Pharmacy, OPAU is a technology platform that gently removes water from liquid-based products, transforming them into lightweight dry sheets. This ultimately results in a reduction in transportation costs and more environmentally sustainable practices.
The company is initially focusing on the wellness and beauty sector, where it believes it can deliver significant gains.
Ediform
Ediform is a spin-out from UEA’s School of Pharmacy that will create a new generation of food using 3D and 4D technology to provide the right nutritional values to feed hospital patients, people in care homes and children at school. Its products aim to aid recovery and maintain health. Its technology can also provide a sustainable food supply to grief-stricken areas of the world easily, cheaply and quickly, which can mitigate starvation.
The other five finalists
MovExplore, a spin-out from UEA’s School of Health Sciences, utilises the latest technologies to provide scans of the way people move to aid in diagnosing specific medical conditions, creating effective treatment plans and monitoring general health.
MVPea, a collaborative spin-out from UEA’s School of Biology, the Earlham Institute and the John Innes Centre, is creating innovative pea-based food products that are delicious, healthy and sustainable to improve consumers’ diets.
Virilitas Labs, a spin-out from UEA’s School of Biology, is addressing the critical issue of declining human fertility and limited advancements in assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Its focus is on providing individuals with information about their reproductive health and enabling clinics to offer fertility tools to improve pregnancy and live birth rates.
Innovative Approaches, a spin-out from UEA’s Faculty of Science, is looking to improve the environmental sustainability of laboratories essential for research and innovation. It delivers a range of services to help organisations effectively reduce carbon emissions associated with their laboratory operations.
The Chemistry Shed, a spin out from UEA’s School of Pharmacy, is a biotech business that uses an innovative computer platform to accelerate the discovery of new medicines. It will help to lower the cost and speed to market for new medicines and provide employment opportunities for young scientists in Norfolk.
The panel of judges included UEA professor of Pharmaceutical Material Science and Technology and associate dean for innovation Sheng Qi; serial entrepreneur Peter Cowley; start-up advisor, angel investor and mentor James Thomas; Mills & Reeve corporate principal Associate Christina O'Brian; CEO of Glyconics Ltd Dr Kam Pooni; and CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership LLP Roz Bird.
The event also featured a panel session chaired by Dr Pete Jackson, CEO of Infex Therapeutics and non-executive chair of Anglia Innovation Partnership, on how start-up companies should prepare for and secure investment. The panel provided practical advice from COO of Colorifix Chris Hunter, head of biology at Ikarovec Dr Andrew Osborne, associate principal scientist of Astra Zeneca James Pilling, director of delivery at Health Innovation East Dr Sarah Robinson and CEO and co-founder of Start Codon Dr Jason Mellad.
Dr Mellad said: “Norwich Research Park should double-down on what makes it unique, which is agritech, biotech and health and wellness, where there is a high level of potential."
Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership, the science park management company at Norwich Research Park, said: “There is a huge potential for brilliant business ideas to emerge from the research community at Norwich Research Park, which is why we established our campus-wide Enterprise strategy in 2022, to support and encourage people with great ideas to validate them and develop successful and innovative businesses.
“These events highlight the real opportunities that exist here and the importance of nurturing new businesses. Our unique combination of top-class facilities, access to funding and ease of collaboration means we can fast-track ideas so that they become viable start-up or spin-out companies.”
The next Enterprise event will be held at 1.30pm to 6pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
For more information, visit norwichresearchpark.com
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