Worcester's Betaden gets royal visit

By Nicky Godding

23 April 2024

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Betaden Cohort after HRH visit

Eight Worcestershire technology businesses were invited to discuss their work with royalty when His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester visited the University of Worcester last week.

The companies - all current founders or alumni of Worcestershire’s award-winning technology accelerator BetaDen, based in Malvern - presented their businesses to His Royal Highness, as well as taking part in a roundtable discussion led by Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership CEO Gary Woodman.

Founders and businesses participating in the showcase included:

Vann Vogstad of COHO - a property management software platform bringing all aspects of managing Houses of Multiple Occupancy, shared living, co-living rental properties and tenants into one workflow
Clive Summerfield of FARx - a new voice-face biometric recognition technology that allows applications to recognise what is being said and who is speaking
Will Norrell of Triplo ESG - an online sustainability advice platform for smaller businesses
Alison Skidmore of EaseTwist - a revolutionary new system for safety harnesses and buckles
Martyn Gill of ORNA - a cyber incident response and case management platform
Adrian Burden of BlockMark - a software-as-a-service platform for managing certificates and showcasing accreditations and capabilities
Ian Drury of Prizsm - a powerful, cyber security solution for the quantum-computing age
Charlotte Hodivala of MindSafe - an online digital tool to help schools and pupils manage their mental wellbeing

Donston Powell, External Affairs director at BetaDen, said: “We were honoured to welcome the Duke of Gloucester to Worcester and to have the opportunity to share some of the fantastic innovations taking place in the county with him.”

Gary Woodman, Chief Executive Officer at Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership added: “Worcestershire has a strong technology heritage and BetaDen’s current cohort and alumni are gaining increasing national and international recognition for their game-changing technologies.

“The visit was a real inspiration for everyone involved and we were delighted that the Duke was so interested in the innovative products and solutions our founders showcased as a celebration of their work.”

Alison Skidmore, director of EaseTwist said: “I felt truly honoured to attend the Royal visit and present my product to The Duke of Gloucester.

“The opportunities I have had since being on the BetaDen programme have been priceless - I never thought I’d be demonstrating my invention to royalty and getting to talk with him about current business challenges.”

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.