Written by Two teams from the University of Warwick have been awarded grants by Innovate UK to start their new companies.
What is ICURe?
Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) trains, funds and supports teams led by university early-career researchers (ECRs) to determine whether there is a market for products or services that utilise their research, science or technology. Up to £35,000 of funding is available to ‘get out of the lab’ and validate these commercially promising ideas in the marketplace.
Once again Warwick takes advantage of the national ICURe scheme to get its Research Innovations to Market.
Warwick is proud to announce that two more of its early career researchers have emerged from the national ICURe scheme with substantial grants of over £500k from Innovate UK.
Halycon 3D Ltd has been established to commercialise the technology developed by Dr Atualla Shegiwal and Professor David Haddleton from the department of Chemistry. They have developed a novel additive for 3D printing resins which reduces shrinkage and deformation in 3D printed parts.
Following their participation in the ICURe programme, delivered by Warwick Innovations, they identified several markets where the technology offers huge advantages, and have already lined up contract manufacturers and prospective collaborators. They are now looking for investment to support the £300k awarded by Innovate UK to develop the product for different markets.
Dr John Humphreys and Professor Shanwen Tao from the department of Engineering have developed a composite alkaline membrane which can be used as the electrolyte for electrolysers for green hydrogen production. This will offer significant cost savings compared to acidic membrane systems which use platinum metals, and alkaline membranes which suffer low performance and are limited to low temperature uses.
In order to commercialise the technology, they will set up a spin-out company and seek investment to support the £246k awarded by Innovate UK to develop prototypes and begin developing partnerships with companies in the electrolyser industry.
For further information about these teams or about the ICURe programme, please contact Kevin Marks here: icure@warwick.ac.uk
More about ICURe here: https://warwickinnovationdistrict.com/icure/