Harwell: UK celebrates five years of bringing space technology down to Earth for new start-ups

Since 2010 over 50 new space technology start-ups have launched in the UK and then rocketed to become thriving, growing businesses thanks to the support of the European Space Agency’s Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC Harwell) which opened in Oxfordshire five years ago today.

The first business incubation centre supported by ESA in the UK, its sole mission is to enable small, budding businesses and entrepreneurs translate their brilliant ideas on how they can use space technology and develop the ‘next big thing’ in non-space fields.  So far these range from travel technology, to regenerative healthcare, tracking resurfaced divers, surveying volcanic ash clouds, to protecting agriculture for farmers in Africa and even detecting bedbugs, just to name a few.

The ESA BIC Harwell is managed and co-funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). On behalf of the UK, STFC provides access to world-leading, large-scale facilities across a range of physical and life sciences in areas as diverse as super-computing, laser science, neutron beam line science and developing space technology. All this expertise and experience means that STFC is ideally placed to support small businesses develop their innovative ideas.

Michael Norris, head of business incubation, at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said: “For any start-up or entrepreneur, coming up with a great idea is just the first step in the innovation process, and turning an idea into a winning commercial offering is a massive challenge. The ESA BIC Harwell provides the ideal environment to do this and, I am thrilled to say that over the last five years it has already played an invaluable role in the growth and success of over 50 early stage companies.  The ESA BIC Harwell plays a crucial role in maximising the potential of space for future economic growth, keeping the UK at the forefront of the global science race, creating jobs and profitable businesses.”

The ESA BIC Harwell is one of a wider European network of 12 successful ESA BICs, as part of ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme.  Managed and co-funded by STFC, it provides up to 10 companies a year with an impressive two-year support package that enables them to harness intellectual property, technologies and expertise generated by ESA research, alongside £41,500 funding, access to STFC’s world class research facilities and skills, and a dedicated STFC business champion.