Five high-tech businesses locate to STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory

Five pioneering early-stage businesses have located their businesses at Daresbury Laboratory where cutting edge research facilities, on-site expertise and business support will help them take their businesses to the next level.

Part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and located within the vibrant campus at Sci-Tech Daresbury in the Liverpool City Region, Daresbury Laboratory’s world-leading facilities, expertise and business support have played a key role in the growth and success of start-ups from across the North West and beyond for more than 10 years.

Here, businesses gain affordable and flexible access to high-specification laboratories and equipment, on-site expertise and business support that would usually be out of reach for a small business, enabling them to save money, reduce risk and grow into strong sustainable businesses.

The new companies span a range of sectors from using augmented reality technologies to develop screen-based story-telling experiences to developing fast, accurate and cost-effective Covid-19 testing technologies.

Delyth Edwards, Business Incubation Programmes Manager, said, “It’s really exciting to be welcoming these five new companies to Daresbury Laboratory. With our facilities, capabilities and expertise, we are perfectly placed to help start-ups solve their high-tech innovation challenges and enhance their competitiveness.  From fast-tracking the development of new products through 3D printing to enabling the integration of advanced digital technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, and of course, providing affordable lab and office space to carry out R&D, we can help businesses to reduce costs, time to market and some of the risk involved in product development.  It is our mission to provide the correct environment for innovation and success, and it’s fantastic to help businesses located here go from strength to strength.”

The five new companies are:

• Immersive Storylab: Using immersive technology to create moving ‘storyworlds’ with augmented reality 3D characters.

• Envisage Space: Using advanced satellite technologies and analytics to improve GNSS (GPS, Galileo, etc) location accuracy in complex environments (built-up cities, industrial areas, mines etc) and deliver associated products and services.

• IoT Horizon: An Internet of Things Specialist evaluating clients’ ideas and challenges to guide them through the Digital Transformation process, turning concepts to profit, quickly. This includes all things IoT, sensors, security, software and electronics.

• Alphabiolabs: Developing and providing fast, cost-effective and accurate DNA, drug and alcohol testing and, more recently, Covid-19 testing.

• LR Consultancy: Developing advanced purification technologies for the semiconductor and chemical manufacturing industries.

Several options are available to businesses, from leasing an exclusive-use lab to flexible access to bench space and high-specification equipment. There is also a vibrant, successful and growing suite of business incubation programmes available for small businesses, which includes collaborative programmes with both the European Space Agency and CERN, alongside the addition of a new digital prototyping facility, which includes a virtual and augmented reality workstation.

Daresbury Laboratory is located within Sci-Tech Daresbury, a nationally recognised Campus and community of high-tech business and innovation. Businesses located here gain unique access to the support, expertise and innovation opportunities offered by the wider campus. Here collaboration is key and a ‘home-for-life’ ethos makes it possible for, what may start as a one-person business using shared facilities, to scale up to a much larger business with its own dedicated space.

Find further information about support for SMEs at Daresbury Laboratory and across STFC more generally at the STFC website.