As well as creating hundreds of jobs for the region, there have been new, exciting, and leading technologies being developed by companies within the incubators. Open Bionics<\/a>, Perceptual Robotics<\/a>, and Bunk<\/a> are just a few of the successful enterprises to have been supported by UWE Bristol\u2019s Incubation team. Almost half of all companies that have been supported are UWE Bristol graduates \u2013 evidence of the growing entrepreneurial journey the University has built on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The recent investment by UWE Bristol, has brought together the two incubators in a newly refurbished space at the heart of the University Enterprise Zone, on UWE Bristol\u2019s Frenchay campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both incubators were originally set up to work with tech founders in the early stages of their business development, and both have seen huge success: Launch Space focused on working with founders to develop their ideas and value proposition, preparing businesses for their first funding raise, and the BRL hardware incubator provided space for companies to build and test their products, refining them ready for commercial launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tracey John, Director of Research, Business, and Innovation at UWE Bristol<\/strong>, oversees the incubation team commented: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy bringing together our incubators in a new multiuse and multidisciplinary space, we have created an even more powerful incubation offer for tech start-ups. We have created a place where individuals can build their teams, where the business savvy can bump into the tech savvy, and where things can be built, from prototypes and early products to commercial offerings.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Manuel Giuliani, Co-Director of BRL, <\/strong>oversees the incubator space, commented: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Incubator is an exciting space for startups to work on their ideas, exchange ideas with academics and students from the BRL and wider University, whilst growing their business. The refurbishment of the space is fantastic. Who wouldn\u2019t want to work out of such a modern, high-end co-working environment?!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Using an innovative approach with Opendesk<\/a> for the main furniture, the brand-new space has co-working desks, individual workbenches, a large meeting space, and collaborative zones. Funding from the ERDF Digital Innovation4Growth programme and the West of England Combined Authority, has enabled the purchase of additional tools and equipment to support incubator tenants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies that join the incubator are given up to 12 months free desk space. However, the team describe how the physical space is just one part of a bigger offering. As well as bespoke technical mentoring and expert advice services, founders have access to a programme of business frameworks, peer group sessions, and wider events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those building hardware, a weekly drop-in service is provided by BRL technicians to support safe working practices and even provide technical training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the heart of the University Enterprise Zone at UWE Bristol\u2019s Frenchay Campus, Aimee Skinner and Mark Corderoy discuss the recent incubator renovation and the environment the University has created to support entrepreneurial journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHaving a place to work is crucial for early-stage businesses when building their tech products and services,\u201d <\/em>Mark Corderoy, Incubation Manager at UWE Bristol<\/strong>, said as he showed off the new heavy-duty workbenches, fresh ply co-working desks, and large conference table complete with 360o<\/sup> video conferencing equipment. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe incubator has seen some amazing technologies being developed over the years, and it\u2019s important that we continue to create an environment in which these businesses can thrive\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\nMark Corderoy, Incubation Manager at UWE Bristol<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Multiple teams were involved in the delivery of the ambitious 10-week renovation \u2013 from designing wall graphics and colour schemes, to the choice of furniture and equipment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Aimee Skinner, Programme Lead at UWE Bristol<\/strong>, explains that <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe space is exciting and has been designed to inspire those that work in it, but it\u2019s also practical and functions in the way that start-ups need. There are areas to work quietly and focus, break out spaces to come together as a team, benches to build hardware, and professional meeting facilities.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Aimee goes further to say that \u201cthe incubator space is about engineering serendipity – those chance encounters where the right people meet at the right time to spark an idea, a conversation, and perhaps a new way of approaching a challenge\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re interested in finding out more about enterprising activity at UWE Bristol go to https:\/\/www.uwe.ac.uk\/business\/university-enterprise-zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sign up to our business newsletter<\/a> to stay up to date with the latest news and opportunities for your business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) have transformed their incubation space on campus, bringing together two tech incubators into one space for the first time. More than 170 tech founders have been supported by UWE Bristol\u2019s Incubators. Between them, the Launch Space Incubator, and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) Hardware Incubator have … Continue reading “Expansion of Start-up Support at UWE Bristol: Introducing New Incubation Facilities at Frenchay Campus”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":4465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,272],"tags":[17,657,42,47,100,226,76],"class_list":["post-4460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-enterprise","category-university-enterprise-zone","tag-business","tag-incubation","tag-innovation","tag-launch-space","tag-university-enterprise-zone","tag-uwe-bristol-research","tag-uwe-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4466,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4460\/revisions\/4466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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