A co-founder of Manchester-based Wull Technologies has won a Women in Innovation Award, securing £75,000 in project funding to accelerate the commercial development of the company’s sheep-wool insulation panels.
Ruth-Marie Mackrodt, commercial director of Wull Technologies, is one of 61 female founders recognised through Innovate UK’s national programme, having been selected from more than 1,500 applicants.
The award will support Wull Technologies’ next phase of development, including manufacturing scale-up, independent testing and product demonstrations. It also includes a 12-month package of business support, training and networking opportunities.
Wull Technologies is a joint venture between Vector Labs and Wool Insulation Wales. It is developing rigid insulation panels made from British sheep wool under the patent-pending brand name LAMDA.
The panels are designed for internal and external solid-wall applications.
Millions of solid-wall homes across the UK remain uninsulated. LAMDA is being developed as a vapour-permeable rigid insulation panel that improves thermal performance while managing moisture safely, particularly in heritage and traditional buildings, private retrofit projects and social housing.
During the 12-month project, Wull Technologies will demonstrate the product in live building projects, helping to generate the evidence and certification needed for wider adoption across the UK construction sector.
Mackrodt, who co-founded Wool Insulation Wales in 2022, leads the Wull Technologies team alongside technical director Liam Britnell.
She said: “I am extremely proud to have received this award, but I see it primarily as recognition of the work being undertaken by the whole Wull Technologies team and of the wider potential of British wool as an advanced material.
(L-R) Nathan Feddy, Jessica Agyemang, Ruth-Marie Mackrodt, Jonas Singer, Liam Britnell, Vicente Orts Mercadillo and Xiaomeng Zhang, of Wull Technologies
“Britain has a vast number of older solid-wall buildings that urgently need to become warmer and more energy-efficient. That work must be carried out in a way that respects how those buildings manage moisture, rather than creating new problems that may only become visible years later.
“This award will help us move LAMDA through the next critical stage – strengthening our manufacturing process, building the independent evidence required by the construction industry and demonstrating the material in real buildings.
“It also gives us an opportunity to show that an overlooked British agricultural resource can become part of a modern, technically credible and circular manufacturing industry.”
Tom Adeyoola, executive chair of Innovate UK, said: “This year’s Women in Innovation cohort represents some of the UK’s most exciting entrepreneurial talent.
“These founders are developing the ideas, technologies and businesses that will drive economic growth, attract investment and tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.
“Many of today’s most successful companies started with bold ideas and the right support at the right time. Through Women in Innovation, we are backing founders with the ambition, talent and determination to develop the UK’s most promising companies.”
The latest grant for Wull Technologies follows a £300,000 investment from the University of Manchester Innovation Factory and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s GM Advance Fund last year, with each contributing £150,000.
In 2023, the company was awarded a £214,000 Innovate UK grant for its initial research project.
- You can read the full Women in Innovation list here