UK research institute invests in technology innovation

5 June 2019

The UK’s Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) is to invest £1.1 million (€1.2 million) in 15 technology developers to take their projects to the next stage in benefiting future mobility.

The chosen SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) are all working on innovative, low-carbon technologies from new battery management technologies, fuel cells to printed power electronics. The Technology Developer Accelerator Programme (TDAP) helps to accelerate the decarbonisation of roads by working with both existing automotive organisations and facilitating cross-sector technology transfer from other industries.

The APC’s grant funding and business planning support will help develop these new technologies, without taking any stake in the business or Intellectual Property.

Being reactive

′We need a range of technologies to decarbonise vehicles from passenger to heavy duty and beyond,’ says TDAP Manager for the APC, Josh Denne. ′The variety of technology coming through this programme reflects the change in the industry. There is no silver bullet for decarbonising the transport sector, being technology agnostic at the APC allows us to be reactive and work with some revolutionary new technology and organisations. We are looking forward to being part of their journeys.’

TDAP is designed to help developers of early-stage technologies by providing business planning and grant funding up to £104,000 (€117,000). It could also help open new routes to market, from making introductions to OEMs and funding agencies. 

One of the successful applicants, Zlatka Stoeva of DZP Technologies Ltd, added: ′We look forward to working with the APC to understand better the value of our innovative technology for the automotive sector. The technical and business landscape can be complex for a small company to embrace quickly, and many opportunities may be missed. We hope that the TDAP project will help us to create new partnerships to bring our technology to market and identify new growth opportunities for our company.’

Business boost

The format of the programme reflects the risk involved in developing cutting-edge technologies. As these new technologies and business plans are tested, not all of the organisations will reach the end of the 18-month programme. However, TDAP has proven its success over the last three cycles with impressive results from the participating SMEs.

On average, organisations who completed the programme in 2018 increased their average headcount by 27% over the 18-month project and accelerated their time to market by more than 12 months.

TDAP is part of a 10-year programme to make UK a world-leader in low carbon propulsion technology.