The seventh Birmingham-born company has entered University of Birmingham Enterprise’s MedTech incubator Unit 9.
Birmingham Biotech, which has operations in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the UK, is a manufacturer and supplier of innovative medical diagnostic equipment and devices.
It joined Unit 9 to join the ecosystem at Birmingham Research Park, which has been successfully nurturing high-growth companies since 1986.
Unit 9 opened in 2022 as a specialised incubator to support emerging companies in the second city’s thriving medical technology scene.
“We created Unit 9 as a space to complement the existing infrastructure for translational work in the city and Birmingham Biotech are a perfect fit for the incubator, which has already benefited six other Birmingham-born companies,” said Angie Reynolds, chief operating officer at University of Birmingham Enterprise.
Unit 9 was founded as a collaboration between University of Birmingham Enterprise, the GBSLEP Growth Hub and the West Midlands Combined Authority, to support innovation, creativity, and growth in the city.
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It is part of a joined-up ecosystem that surrounds the University of Birmingham campus, and provides short-term incubation for tenants, who also benefit from a business support programme, an equipment-sharing agreement with the University.
Unit 9 is located at Birmingham Research Park, which has a range of landing spaces for companies wishing to locate in Birmingham, including the BioHub Birmingham, which provides facilities for cell culture of microbiology work to Unit 9’s tenants.
The Midlands health and life sciences sector is home to the UK’s largest cluster of medical technology businesses, and boasts strengths in the 4Ds – diagnostics, devices, digital and data – as well as world-leading research institutes, and the clinical infrastructure for large-scale trials.
Birmingham Biotech’s MD Michael Hsu said: “The Unit 9 incubator is the perfect lab space for us. It’s the right-size, low-cost, and in a good-location.
“It is with easy access to the University campus, research departments and hospitals which will facilitate current and future collaborative research activities. We will also benefit from business support from University of Birmingham Enterprise and other facilities at the BioHub Birmingham.”
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