Frontier IP Group (LON: FIPP), a specialist in commercialising university intellectual property, announced today that it is hosting an event jointly with the Royal Academy of Engineering on the evening of 8th April 2019.
The event is the first hosted by Frontier IP and the Royal Academy following a collaboration agreement between the two organisations reflecting their shared aims in supporting new engineering and technology companies. The theme of the evening is the circular economy and sustainability.
Guests will include investors and representatives of companies supported by Frontier IP and the Academy, government departments and industry partners. The event will showcase innovative sustainable technologies being supported by Frontier IP and the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub. No new material information will be disclosed.
Announcements from Pulsiv Solar and Alusid have also been released this morning, which you will find below.
The event is being held at the Royal Academy of Engineering’s headquarters in London. The Frontier IP portfolio companies presenting their technologies are:
· Alusid will be showcasing its sustainable tiles and tabletops made from recycled glass and porcelain industrial waste. It is today announcing that Parkside Architectural Tiles, the commercial arm of Topps Tiles plc serving the architecture and design market, is to launch an exclusive range of sustainable tiles made by the company. More details are in the separate announcement.
· Pulsiv Solar is developing technology to improve the energy efficiency of solar micro-inverters and power converters. The company is today announcing that is has entered into an agreement with Robert Bosch Limited to optimise the design of its solar micro-inverter prototype. More details are in the separate announcement.
· Des Solutio is presenting its greener and safer alternatives to the toxic solvents used for extracting the natural actives found in a host of everyday beauty, personal care, household and pharmaceutical products
· Fieldwork Robotics will be demonstrating a prototype of its raspberry-harvesting robot system, developed in collaboration with Hall Hunter Partnership, one of the UK’s biggest soft fruit growers
· Molendotech will show a SirenBW rapid bathing water testing kit being rolled out commercially by Palintest, a subsidiary of FTSE 100 group Halma plc. The kit cuts the time to detect bacteria in water from more than two days to 20 minutes in the hands of a skilled technician
· Nandi Proteins, which is developing novel ingredients to reduce the amount of fat, sugar and E-number additives in food, will be discussing its technology and the work it is doing with AB Foods, Devro and Coeliac UK
· NTPE will be showing its patented technology to print electronic circuits, sensors and semiconductors onto paper
Frontier IP chief executive officer Neil Crabb said:
“We are very much looking forward to showing some of the exciting work being undertaken by our portfolio companies alongside technology supported by the Royal Academy’s Enterprise Hub. Frontier IP and the Royal Academy have shared goals in helping early-stage engineering and technology businesses grow and prosper, and we are delighted to be partnering with them. “
Portfolio news – Bosch UK to work with Pulsiv Solar to optimise energy efficient solar power technology
Frontier IP, also announced today that Robert Bosch Limited has entered into an agreement to work with portfolio company Pulsiv Solar to optimise the design of the Company’s energy-efficient solar micro-inverter prototype. Frontier IP holds an 18.9 per cent stake in Pulsiv.
When the prototype moves into full-scale production University of Plymouth spin-out Pulsiv will be able to market the devices as “Engineered by Bosch.” Bosch UK is a subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH (“Bosch”), a leading global supplier of technology and services that employs roughly 410,000 associates worldwide.
Solar micro-inverters are plug-in devices that convert direct current (DC) electricity generated by photovoltaic cells to alternating current (AC) used in electrical grids. In laboratory conditions, Pulsiv has demonstrated its technology is significantly more energy efficient than existing micro-inverters.
For the commercial product, the Company is targeting an improvement on energy delivered to the grid of at least 5 per cent over current market leaders. Its micro-inverters can be used in new installations or retrofitted to existing solar panels.
The work with Bosch UK will be funded by the Company as part of a £288,732 project backed by a £129,929 grant from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.
Other applications being explored for the technology include improving the energy efficiency of power converters used in a huge range of consumer devices, such as televisions, mobile phones and laptops.
Pulsiv was incorporated to develop and commercialise the work of Dr Zaki Ahmed, Associate Professor in Information Technology at the School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics at the University.
Mahesh Chikodi, UK country head of Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions, said:
“Bosch is currently engaged with Pulsiv Solar for industrialisation of their solution which increases the power output from solar panels. Pulsiv has technology which increases the output of solar panels by up to 30 per cent and Bosch with its leading engineering expertise on software and sensors will aim to accelerate the product development and testing.”
Pulsiv Solar technical director Dr Zaki Ahmed said:
“We are very excited to have Bosch’s collaboration and support on the industrialisation of our micro-inverter, and potentially other products. This collaboration means I expect Pulsiv will be able to deliver an average improvement of more than 5 per cent in the energy exported to the electrical grid. We have been assured by a global leader in the renewables space that this improvement could be disruptive to the industry.”
Frontier IP chief executive officer Neil Crabb said:
“We are very pleased with the progress Pulsiv Solar is making. This agreement with Bosch supports validation of the Company’s patented photovoltaic inverter technology and we are looking forward to developments across other applications in the future.”
Portfolio news – Parkside Architectural Tiles to launch exclusive Alusid sustainable tile range
Frontier IP, went on to announce that Parkside Architectural Tiles, the commercial arm of Topps Tiles plc serving the architecture and design market, is to launch an exclusive range of sustainable tiles made by the Group’s portfolio company Alusid. Frontier IP holds a 35.6 per cent stake in the Company.
The tiles will be made from recycled porcelain and glass industrial waste through Alusid’s patented process, which also uses less energy than conventional tile manufacturing.
Parkside will sell the tiles under the brand name Sequel in a range of different formats and colours. They will be launched at this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week in London, from the 21 to 23 May.
Sequel tiles will also be on display at the new Parkside design studio in Clerkenwell.
Alusid, a spin out from the University of Central Lancashire, has already enjoyed success with its SilicaStone-branded tiles, tabletops and other surfaces. Customers include Amazon, Nando’s and Wells Fargo bank, which is using Alusid’s products in its prestigious London HQ. There are more than 100 projects in the pipeline.
The Company raised £1.34 million in September last year to support planning to scale up manufacturing, a move expected to transform capacity from 4,000m2 a year to 30,000m2 a month.
Alusid co-founder and chief operating officer Dr Alasdair Bremner said:
“We’re very excited about the launch of our new Sequel brand by Parkside Architectural Tiles. Our strategy has always been that customers will not buy a product because it is greener, but because it is of premium quality as well as being sustainable. We believe this launch vindicates that approach.”
Frontier IP chief executive Neil Crabb said:
“Alusid continues to thrive and attract new customers and, of course, we’re delighted about the Parkside launch. We believe there is greater demand to be fulfilled, and we are now actively exploring options to transform the company’s manufacturing capacity.”
