Three West Midlands startups are among five from the UK who have won patents to develop technologies for global corporations.
The five winners of IPHatch UK 2026 have secured eight patents originating from Panasonic, Nokia, NEC and DENSO – giving them access to innovations that would ordinarily be far beyond the reach of young businesses.
The fourth annual UK competition saw 21 startups shortlisted for the final pitch day at City of Glasgow College.
The five successful companies are CALMS International (Birmingham), an enterprise software company which was awarded an NEC patent; Cyber Nandhini (Aberdeen), a cybersecurity business awarded a Nokia patent; The Discourse AI (Suffolk), an education technology and AI company awarded two Panasonic patents; Mixd Reality (Staffordshire), an augmented reality and education technology company awarded a Panasonic patent; and RS9 Technologies (Smethwick), a cybersecurity and AI business awarded three DENSO patents.
Building on an existing, granted patent can reduce R&D time and cost for a startup, said Deepak Pathak, European ambassador for Piece Future / IPHatch.
“Britain has some extraordinary entrepreneurs, but imagine what more they could achieve if we connected them directly with the technology, expertise and resources of the world’s largest companies,” he said.
“That’s what we’re doing through IPHatch. We’re opening doors that would ordinarily be closed to smaller businesses, giving them valuable technology, stronger protection against competition and opportunities for future partnerships with global giants.
“My ambition is to bring more of these international opportunities to Britain, connecting major corporations with our entrepreneurs, universities and investors.
“Britain shouldn’t just be somewhere global companies come to sell their products. It should be somewhere they come to find their next great business partners.
“As a Brit, I want our companies to have an edge. These five companies have earned a fantastic opportunity and we will be supporting their next steps. But this is the start. I want to see dozens of UK companies winning patents next year, and hundreds over the next few years, building UK success stories that become global brands.”
The programme is also attracting international entrepreneurs to Britain. One of the five winners, CALMS International, originally from Malaysia, set up its UK presence through the Department for Business and Trade’s Global Entrepreneur Programme.
The UK winners join an international programme with a substantial track record. Operated by Piece Future, IPHatch has commercialised more than 350 patents and welcomed more than 100 startups through 14 competitions across 12 markets, connecting entrepreneurs with technologies developed by multinational corporations.
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