The Royal Academy of Engineering has opened a new Enterprise Hub at Central Tech in Liverpool.
The new facility is designed to support local engineering and technology innovators and entrepreneurs with equity-free funding, smart and flexible training and mentoring from industry experts.
Liverpool will be the Academy’s fifth location outside of London, alongside Belfast, Swansea, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Led by senior enterprise manager Ben McAlinden and based in the heart of the city’s Knowledge Quarter, the Hub in Liverpool will seek to support bold, IP-rich innovations from all areas of engineering and technology.
It’s aimed at companies from across the wider North West region, striving to solve the world’s most complex environmental, economic and social challenges.
Sir John Lazar CBE FREng, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “Lack of access to capital means cutting-edge innovations – and the entrepreneurs who create them – don’t get the chances they deserve, and as a country, we don’t get the solutions to the issues we face.
“We want our new Liverpool Enterprise hub to create a climate where more investors become aware of the enormous potential of this deep bench of talent in the region.
“The commercialisation of research can be transformative in terms of breakthroughs and new products. Turning these discoveries into disruptive startups, spinouts and scaleups is the business of what we do with our Enterprise hubs.
“We want to help drive innovation and grow the economic future for everyone in the Liverpool City Region.”
Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Cabinet Member for Innovation, added: “We have world class strengths in areas including advanced manufacturing, life sciences, materials science and AI technology, and a huge amount of talented and ambitious entrepreneurs with ideas that can tackle the challenges the world faces today.
“The Royal Academy of Engineering has recognised these strengths and opening their new Enterprise Hub in the heart of our Knowledge Quarter will play a vital role in helping turn talent and ideas into economic growth and prosperity that benefits everyone.”
The Liverpool City Regional Combined Authority and the Liverpool City Metro Mayor have also set out a clear path to deliver growth with their Plan for Prosperity.
Liverpool’s three main universities have a wealth of science, engineering and technology talent, with 53 per cent of higher education students in the area enrolled in STEM courses, beating the regional (50 per cent) and national (45 per cent) averages.