Launch Space, UWE’s hi-tech business incubator for graduates, has attracted 23 residents since it was launching just over six months ago.
Based in the £16m University Enterprise Zone, Launch Space provides recent graduates from across the UK with free desk space for a year, innovation support and access to UWE’s researchers and facilities.
UWE pro vice-chancellor for research and business engagement Prof Martin Boddy, said: “Launch Space is already becoming a vibrant and inspiring community of hi-tech entrepreneurs.
“The university is a key innovation hub in the West of England and we are delighted to announce that each business at Launch Space has recently been given the chance to apply for a grant of up to £6,000 to help with research and development.”
Projects based at Launch Space include Tegru, a company developing a face mask for cyclists that includes built-in filter technology designed to reduce intake of harmful particles.
The incubator is also home to Bio Loop, a venture working on a system to convert waste milk into electricity.
Run by a graduate from UWE’s Team Entrepreneurship degree, Bio Loop is working with a dairy company to help process waste milk using microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology to produce electricity.
It is collaborating with experts to develop a system using this technology developed at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, a collaboration between UWE and the University of Bristol also based at UWE’s Frenchay Campus.
Another start-up is building an app called Bunk that acts as an intermediary between landlords and tenants with the aim improving renting.
Bunk will be powered by Blockchain technology, originally designed for the bitcoin digital currency, which allows digital information to be distributed but not copied and removes the need for a middleman in financial transactions.
The model moves away from the current cash-heavy deposit system and allows customers to take out a monthly payment plan with an insurance company instead.
Launch Space has also attracted GigaTech, a company designing a configurable MIDI controller for music makers Seatox, a business making beauty products out of seaweed, and Bonnie Binary, an enterprise developing a ‘soft’ games controller partly made out of textiles.
Launch Space incubation manager Kim Brookes said: “For these graduate start-ups, working from this space is an enriching experience, given the flurry of activity around.
“It is also important for the region, because the minute you give opportunity for innovation and creativity to thrive together, you could be creating a new industry, and this promotes the innovation economy”.
Launch Space forms part of a larger UWE innovation support programme that is receiving up to £2m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It location alongside UWE’s Future Space technology incubation hub and the BRL means residents benefit from co-location with other innovative enterprises.
Anyone wishing to apply for a place at the incubator can do so here. Applicants must have a UK-based business located or operating in the West of England (Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire, and North Somerset).
