Sci-Tech Daresbury, the Liverpool city region’s science and innovation campus, has hand-picked five science and tech start-ups to benefit from a new support programme. Tony McDonough reports 

Five of the North West’s best science and technology start-up businesses have been selected to become part of a new Liverpool city region business accelerator.

Sci-Tech Daresbury, the city region’s science and innovation campus which is home to almost 150 businesses, has launched The Future Club. It will offer five start-ups access to  business support expertise, partnerships and networks at the campus.

The campus’s working environment provides a range of hot desk, office, laboratory and workshop facilities across a number of buildings on the site. In addition, Sci-Tech Daresbury is also renowned in the region for its high-value networking events and collaboration opportunities.

This coupled with its business and funding support activities has seen business survival rates for companies on site of 95% and sales growth rates in excess of 25% per year. The start-ups enrolling on the programme are:

Potentialisation

An online platform which provides an automated holistic coaching system around personology (including emotional intelligence, motivation and personality traits). In collaboration with a variety of experts, the company aims to deliver learning paths and tools, and will use artificial intelligence, large data and machine learning to research and improve its service offering.

Inspirze

An award-winning digital employee engagement platform which addresses the challenge of sustaining an organisation’s ability to live the brand. First established in South Africa, its recent expansion to the UK has seen it embark on a strategy of participation and growth in the Liverpool city region. It took an active part in the LCR SUSTAIN Programme as part of the Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s Business Growth package.

SMETER

Incorporated in December 2020 as SMETER Research, this is a business advisory firm, designed to deconstruct and support organisations in practicing effective sustainability. Its directors are Malcolm Evans, primarily a financier/entrepreneur and Andrew Beechener, an IT moderniser.

Circada

First established in late 2017, Circada start-up aims to improve health and wellbeing through the production and manufacture of its straightforward health-oriented smart lighting product. It works by synchronising the body’s natural clock with nature. The company is working with Durham University under an Innovate UK grant to undertake user-testing in intensive care.

Inventia

A technology and innovation company that provides multiple R&D products for a broad range of industries, as well as software and electronics consultancy services. Founded in 2019, it was recently granted £75,000 by Innovate UK to develop the SimX app, the first sim-based track and trace app built to help government authorities fight against COVID-19 using both telecommunications and big data analytics.

Each of the Future Club members will also be able to benefit from the expertise of Sci-Tech Daresbury’s Gold Partners; eight hand-picked organisations which offer support for Sci-Tech Daresbury tenants in a range of business and research areas.

The include Grant Thornton, IBM and the University of Liverpool. In addition, Active Coach and Techcelerate Ventures have also agreed to provide additional support and expertise to Future Club members.

John Downes, chief executive of site operator Langtree and chairman of Sci-Tech Daresbury, said: “UK businesses have needed more help than ever in 2020 due to the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and now is a particularly important time for us to be investing in the support and growth of science and technology companies.

“We are thrilled to welcome these five ambitious start-ups to our growing list of tenants and look forward to seeing them develop further throughout the programme.”