Innovative Businesses Secure Funding After Completing LYVA Labs’ Microbials Accelerator Programme

Nine innovative businesses are celebrating receiving £857,000 in funding, from the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst feasibility grant, after completing LYVA Labs’ Microbials Accelerator programme – in which the University of Liverpool is a key partner.

The University of Liverpool is one of NBIC’s four lead research institutions and its involvement is through the Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces (OPIHAS), which is led by Professor Rasmita Raval. The hub combines interdisciplinary surface and materials science expertise with advanced imaging techniques across the physical and life sciences.

Queen’s Anniversary Prize

Funded as part of the Biomedical Catalyst, LYVA Labs’ Microbials Accelerator programme consists of a unique package of business support and access to clinical, scientific, technical and commercial advice at no cost to the company. The Microbials Accelerator partnership offers a programme of developmental courses and mentorship opportunities. The programme is designed to give businesses the knowledge and support they need to move products and services from the development stage to market readiness.

The Microbials Accelerator for SMEs developing microbiomes, biofilms, and phage technologies, gave 11 companies business, funding, and mentorship support. Delivered by LYVA Labs and Bionow, with partners including the University of Liverpool, the companies were supported to apply for up to £100k of Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst feasibility funding.

Nine of the companies that took part in the accelerator secured £857,000 in total, to advance R&D activities and move closer to commercialisation – AMPLY Discovery; BoobyBiome; BugBiome; Ferryx; LightOx; Matrix Bio; Oxford Silk Phage Technologies; Oxford Simcell; and Vitec Microgenix.

NBIC and Microbiome Innovation Centre (MIC) provide key scientific and translational leadership in Biofilms, Microbiomes and Phage-based approaches.

Professor Rasmita Raval, OPIHAS Director and NBIC Liverpool Co-Director said,

“NBIC is the UK’s single front door for Biofilm research and innovation and has active partnerships with over 200 companies. This programme showcased how complementary Regional Centres of Excellence can be brought together to drive academic-industry partnerships and deliver strong innovation pipelines in this important technology area”.

Professor Steve Paterson, Deputy Director of the Microbiome Innovation Centre at the University of Liverpool said,

“Microbials is a rapidly growing area of Life Science and the University of Liverpool’s Microbiome Innovation Centre is ideally placed in the UK to drive forward translation. It has been really exciting to help create an ecosystem in this area and to work with so many talented and creative innovators”.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said,

“Life sciences play an integral role in the delivery of economic growth and job creation across our city region. That is why we set up LYVA Labs and allocated £10.5m of funding to help establish an innovation investment approach, with the goal of increasing investment in this sector and creating thousands of new, high-quality jobs. It is fantastic to see that, with the support of LYVA Labs, nine innovative SMEs have secured £857,000 in funding, building on the work of our already world leading Innovation Zone. This funding will fuel job creation, drive economic growth and ensure local experts lead the way in delivering solutions to global problems”.

Read the original news article on the University of Liverpool website.