Each of the 10 winning SMEs, who come from Merseyside and other parts of the UK, will benefit from a six-month support programme worth up to £10,000 each. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool hi-tech innovation hub Sensor City has chosen 10 winning SMEs in its £100,000 business support competition.

The city centre facility, which specialises in research into the use of sensors and is a £15m collaboration between the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, has offered each winner a six-month support programme worth up to £10,000.

The programme will include taking up hot desking and co-working space within Sensor City with access to its specialist laboratories, in addition to enrolment on the AWS Activate programme which will provide them with the technology infrastructure, technical training and business support they need to grow.

Click to watch a short video featuring the winners

Sensor City launched the competition, supported by Amazon Web Services (AWS), at the beginning of this year and candidates took part in an application and pitch process. The winners are located across the UK, including  in Merseyside, Belfast and the West Midlands, and they are:

• Beverston Engineering – based in Knowsley, the company manufactures components for
• industries including aerospace, oil and gas and pharmaceutical.
• MM Sensors – a start-up firm developing a new sensor technology for measuring meteorology, tide and wave conditions to aid the design of coastal defences.
• Wearable Link – an innovative start-up providing life-saving safety solutions for construction, healthcare and sport markets.
• Real Space – another start-up that is developing a ‘single reality’ optical headset for the manufacturing industry by using VR software to increase the vision of the user and reduce eye strain.
• K-Safe – this venture has founded the world’s first safety app for cyclists and motorcyclists that predicts, detects and analyses road accidents.
• Envirowatch – based in South Shields, the business pioneers sensors that identify which sources are polluting different areas so that targeted and effective mitigation measures can be put in place.
• Hexagon Scientific – based in Liverpool, the firm develops and manufactures a range of sensors and systems to assess contaminants in air and liquid.
• CSols – a Runcorn-based business that develops laboratory software solutions to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
• GeDaP –  a Wirral-based cyber security firm that provides specialist consultancy and software to protect documents and data.
• iSensing – from Belfast, the venture creates and deploys sensor networks to capture real-time movement data of people in cities.

Dr Joanne Phoenix, interim executive director at Sensor City, said: “Our winners impressed the judging panel with their novel ideas and market scope, and we’re looking forward to working with them over the next six months to help realise their full growth potential.”

The judging panel, which was made up of experts from Sensor City, AWS, KTN, Pycom, University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, have met with the winners and will be providing ongoing guidance and links with additional support networks.