Worcestershire tech accelerator welcomes new member as Covid travel restrictions lift

Business News, Technology & Innovation

By Nicky Godding

7 July 2021

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Worcestershire technology accelerator BetaDen has welcomed FloWide UK to its Malvern Hills offices, following the easing of COVID-related travel restrictions.

The FloWide team is developing indoor locating systems and simulation tools for manufacturers to support their optimisation efforts. It has now been fully onboarded after initially being accepted to the accelerator in January, and will begin its journey in earnest this week

Gábor Fehér, founder of FloWide, said: “We’re really excited to finally be able to join BetaDen. Working closely with manufacturers is a crucial part of refining our offer, ensuring it effectively helps them access the efficiency improvements available through Industrial Internet of Things (IOT) technologies. Developing industry partnerships thorough BetaDen and having access to the county’s 5G testbed will be an invaluable part of that process.”

Linda Smith, founder and CEO of BetaDen, added: “We’re delighted that FloWide UK has joined our current cohort and are looking forward to working with them to hone their ideas and facilitate the connections they need to take their business to the next level. Industrial IOT offers huge potential across the manufacturing sector and it’s exciting to see how FloWide UK’s software can support the adoption of new technologies to the benefit of the wider industry.”

FloWide believes that indoor location data is the most efficient and affordable way of introducing industrial IoT to manufacturing processes. Merging ubiquitous locating solutions already in use - such as barcodes - with state-of-the-art, ultra-wideband radio technology, FloWide offers an indoor GPS alternative supported by a range of cutting-edge software tools.

Simulation and low-code python apps allow companies to automate optimisation work while collecting more exact data than would be available through traditional means. Simulation also allows new solutions to be trialled and verified, while estimating return on investment before spending decisions are made.

BetaDen offers a programme of support worth around £50,000 to early-stage technology businesses, including access to Worcestershire’s 5G testbed, a £10,000 proof of concept grant, mentoring from BetaDen’s handpicked team of commercial and technology experts and office space in Malvern Hills Science Park and an industry expertise partnership with Steatite, part of Solid State PLC. It is unique in the technology sector in terms of the value of support it provides and the fact that cohort businesses don’t need to surrender equity in their business to access the accelerator. It also creates opportunities for established businesses to develop technology within the accelerator, effectively supporting in-house R&D activity.

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.