Businesses across Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside have been asked to rise to the Challenge and help the region tackle some of the biggest problems facing our economy and community. A new £800,000 open innovation project has been launched at the region’s longest running Innovation Conference, VentureFest North East. The project is funded through the […]
Author: Shelley Armstrong


New grant fund provides innovation support North of Tyne
A new £1.5m grant fund has been launched by the North of Tyne Combined Authority to support business innovation across North Tyneside, Newcastle and Northumberland. The North of Tyne Innovation Recovery Grant is part of the Authority’s package of support to businesses dealing with the impact of COVID-19. It is designed to enable a green […]

Combining AI with human expertise
How UMi’s innovative new approach is strengthening support and opportunities for regional business. The team at UMi have long-been at the forefront of innovative support for businesses, regionally and nationally. With the pandemic forcing more business support online, UMi has once again innovated to combine learning from the last year with more than a decade […]

Great Exhibition legacy creates jobs and provides innovation support during pandemic
A legacy project from the Great Exhibition of the North has gone on to support 142 businesses in the last two years, and during the first two waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, to grow regional innovation capacity and create 36 jobs. The GX Project provided a range of support including one-to-one specialist innovation expertise and […]

Dyman Advanced Materials secures £571k investment from angel investors to disrupt $12bn industry
Revolutionary synthetic diamond production business, Dyman Advanced Materials, based at the North East Technology Park (NETPark) in County Durham, is set to disrupt the $12bn market in 2021 after raising £571,466 in equity investment. Dr Gary Gibson, founder of Dyman commented: “We are delighted about the investment we have received and are well on track […]

Newcastle-based rare cancer research start-up secures six figure investment
Newcastle-based company leading the way in rare cancer research, Rarecan, has closed a £200,000 funding round after securing investment through the Newcastle Angel Hub and NorthInvest. RareCan completed the round with £45,000 invested by Mandashi Limited following a joint Newcastle Angel Hub and NorthInvest pitch event. Mandashi Limited focus its investments in innovation that makes […]

VentureFest North East delegates urged to ‘think ahead’ to deal with long-term impact of Covid-19
‘Preparing to live with Covid-19 for the long-term’, was one of the key messages to come out of VentureFest North East today, with Dr Lucy Foley, Director of CPI Biologics speaking as part of a panel on accelerating innovation in times of crisis. A focus on the longer-term impact of the last year was highlighted […]

Innovation boss Simon Green hands over CEO role to Estelle Blanks as SuperNetwork eyes next phase of development
Sunderland-based innovation support agency, Innovation SuperNetwork, has announced a change in management structure with current CEO, Simon Green appointed as Chair, and Executive Director, Estelle Blanks, taking up the role of CEO from April. Speaking about the change, Simon said: “When I set about building the Innovation SuperNetwork in 2015, my ambition was always to […]

Invitations to Quote: we’re looking for an online platform and content creators to support VentureFest
VentureFest is the North East’s innovation conference. A longstanding date in the business calendar as a physical event, VentureFest attracts almost 800 delegates. In 2020, the event will be brought to delegates entirely online! As Coronavirus continues to impact our daily lives, we have taken the decision to bring the event to delegates digitally. Now, […]

Collaboration king in challenge to overcome innovation funding gap
A round up of the Accelerating Investment and Innovation Summit. By Estelle Blanks, Executive Director It’s been months in the planning, but this week we delivered the first Accelerating Investment and Innovation Summit, bringing together panelists from across the globe to discuss how to support more investment in innovation. Here in the North East, this […]