Bristol and Tewkesbury entrepreneurs reveal their winning strategies
Two businesses are celebrating success thanks to the help and advice of an organisation which exists to connect innovators with the right support and advice.
Bristol-based SurfaceRF was founded on the theory that surface radar technology could have applications to detect whether or not a secure box had been tampered with. Such an application could potentially revolutionise the safety and security of the transportation of sensitive materials, such as nuclear or even diplomatic.
But the theory wasn’t enough to fully launch the business, until the team came across the CyberASAP programme delivered by KTN. A government-based organisation, KTN connects ideas, people and communities to drive innovation. KTN works in partnership with Innovate UK and UKRI to support businesses in their innovation journey,
With KTN’s support, the SurfaceRF team was able to focus full time on the new venture, develop a business plan, assess the market-need, and build a working prototype (and as it was during lockdown, this had to be done in a bedroom).
Dr Andrew Collins from SurfaceRF said: “KTN’s support and the structure of the CyberASAP programme gave us the time and space to really get the business up on its feet. The funding allowed me to dedicate time to it, and KTN’s network enabled us to establish that there is indeed a market for the kind of technology we’d developed.
“Without the support, we simply would not be in a position to launch the business. So, I really can’t overstate what a huge opportunity Innovate Local South West is to local businesses.”
Synalogik Innovative Solutions Ltd is a Tewkesbury-based business founded in 2018 by a group of former specialists from legal, intelligence, special forces and policing backgrounds. Their proprietary automated data processing software, Scout, helps organisations detect and investigate criminality and compliance issues.
With customers in law enforcement, banking, insurance and gaming, the business had already demonstrated the efficacy of its technology. But the team knew it had even greater potential.
With the expertise and vast network of KTN, as well as funding from Innovate UK, Synalogik has been able to adapt Scout to reach new markets. Innovate UK itself has even become a customer.
Daniel White, Chief Commercial Officer of Synalogik, said: “We’re thrilled to be working alongside the Innovate UK family now for over a year. We’ve got ongoing projects funded by them that have allowed us to do research and development to focus our proprietary software on tackling serious issues including the funding of organised crime and money laundering.”
“We’re also very proud to say we’ve been able to evolve our platform, for local councils as well as Government organisations through the introduction of new data feeds and more complex functionality. The funding will allow us to scale into a large number of global opportunities across multiple sectors. It’s very exciting.”
“We’ve benefitted massively from the involvement of the KTN and IUK teams and we’d highly recommend working with them for R&D funding support and expertise.”
