{"id":5979,"date":"2025-03-12T10:17:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T10:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/discovery-park.co.uk\/?p=5979"},"modified":"2025-03-12T10:17:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T10:17:04","slug":"innovation-showcase-spotlights-kent-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discovery-park.co.uk\/innovation-showcase-spotlights-kent-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation Showcase spotlights Kent entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"
Written by Emily Collins – Communications Officer, University of Kent<\/strong><\/p>\n On 27 February, Kent teamed up with\u00a0Discovery Park<\/a>\u00a0to host their second joint Innovation Showcase, a celebration of the research-driven technologies and business start-ups emerging from the region\u2019s thriving innovation ecosystem.<\/p>\n The event provided a platform for researchers and entrepreneurs to share their experiences of the business start-up journey, exchange ideas, pitch new innovations to prospective partners, and find out about the range of support available to those looking to turn innovative ideas into a business opportunity.<\/p>\n Amongst the innovations showcased were:<\/p>\n The showcase was organised as part of Kent\u2019s\u00a0Impact Acceleration Account<\/a>\u00a0scheme which is enabling the University to use Government-awarded funding via the\u00a0AHRC<\/a>,\u00a0BBSRC<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0MRC<\/a>\u00a0to flexibly support research and innovation at all levels in the arts and humanities, biotechnology and biological sciences, and medicine and healthcare. Many of the innovations discussed on the day have received support from the scheme, as well as from Discovery Park\u2019s\u00a0Discovery Spark<\/a>\u00a0programme and\u00a0Barclays Eagle Labs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kerry Barber, Director of Research and Innovation Support, said: \u2018This event highlighted the incredible innovation and real-world impact aided by the University of Kent\u2019s UKRI-funded Impact Acceleration Accounts. The invaluable support from Discovery Park is also helping to turn bold ideas into reality, giving projects the foundation they need to thrive.<\/p>\n Events like these are vital for bringing people together, fostering new collaborations, and sparking ideas \u2013 it was truly inspiring to see that one of this year\u2019s presenters began their journey through conversations at a previous event. We are therefore incredibly grateful to our funders \u2013 the BBSRC and MRC \u2013 for their continued support in helping to drive forward innovation within the Kent and Medway region.\u2019<\/p>\n Professor Michelle Garrett, Lead for the Medical Research Council IAA, said: \u2018It was fantastic to be involved in such an informative and interactive event. We were able to share how some of our IAA projects are moving towards commercialisation and facilitate new collaborations between different stakeholders who attended the day.\u2019<\/p>\n Renos Savva, Head of Innovation and Venture Development, said: \u2018It was great to see such incredible commercial potential in local R&D and a strong appetite for entrepreneurship at this year\u2019s Innovation Showcase. An inspiring day filled with insights from ex-Pharma researchers, academics, postdocs, and tech-driven start-up founders \u2013 many of whom have benefited from Discovery Park\u2019s ecosystem and are now developing some ground-breaking research. The event was buzzing with collaboration, and it was exciting to see translation-ready ideas turning into reality, proof that innovation thrives in the right environment.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Emily Collins – Communications Officer, University of Kent On 27 February, Kent teamed up with\u00a0Discovery Park\u00a0to host their second joint Innovation Showcase, a celebration of the research-driven technologies and business start-ups emerging from the region\u2019s thriving innovation ecosystem. The event provided a platform for researchers and entrepreneurs to share their experiences of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":5980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n