Without Innovate UK’s funding and encouragement we wouldn’t have progressed so far in such a short time.
Thanks to the iCURE programme (Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research) Dr Kay was able to market test the product concept with over one hundred potential customers and go on to spin out Interface Polymers Ltd from the University of Warwick.
Innovate UK’s funding enabled us to invest in scaling up production of our additives so that we could start selling samples for customer trials and proving the value proposition. It also helped to attract a strong management team and an enviable spread of investors.
The advice received on the iCURE journey focused the team on identifying both the minimum viable product and the quickest route to becoming a self-financing business, without sacrificing any potential long term growth.
With this first success behind us, we are keen to take full advantage of other relevant grant funding opportunities and have already submitted our second application for a substantial collaborative project involving two leading universities and a prominent UK-based manufacturer.
We like the way Innovate UK’s grant monitoring officers give us valuable on-going guidance and advice.
If, like us, you think you might be able to benefit from an Innovate UK grant, you can find out more by going to their website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk
A major technical breakthrough
For decades, polymer scientists around the world have searched for ways to improve the compatibility of polyolefins with other materials. Many avenues have been explored but none led to the ideal solution.
That was until a team at the University of Warwick’s Chemistry Department made a breakthrough.
Professor Peter Scott and his PhD student, Christopher Kay, invented a new class of polymer additives that have the potential to revolutionise the polyolefin industry.
A major technical breakthrough
For decades, polymer scientists around the world have searched for ways to improve the compatibility of polyolefins with other materials. Many avenues have been explored but none led to the ideal solution.
That was until a team at the University of Warwick’s Chemistry Department made a breakthrough.
Professor Peter Scott and his PhD student, Christopher Kay, invented a new class of polymer additives that have the potential to revolutionise the polyolefin industry.
Polarfins®. A whole batch of benefits
Our unique Polarfin® additives offer the plastics industry worldwide the ability to transform performance and cost competitiveness in any market application where interfacial compatibility or surface properties are important.
Traditional attempts to overcome compatibility problems, such as chemical etching, corona discharge and plasma treatment, introduce an additional energy-intensive process, costly equipment and logistical inconvenience. Furthermore, these techniques are only suitable for flat shapes such as films and foils and the effects can be highly inconsistent and short-lived. Read more