Innovation Archives - Invest Colchester

Image of MOLO's aim of the app which is to manage modern family life effectively

UK Startup Award winner helped by University of Essex researchers

Posted on July 8, 2026 | by Editor | Leave a Comment

A startup supported by Essex researchers to develop a groundbreaking app to help parents cope with the mental load of bringing up children in the modern world has won a UK Startup Award.

MOLO, the AI-powered ‘family operating system’, has won the Consumer Services StartUp of the Year Award for London with judges highlighting the partnership with the University of Essex.

The UK Startup Awards recognise the achievements of amazing individuals who have had a great idea, spotted the opportunity and taken the risks to launch a new product or service.

Find out more https://www.essex.ac.uk/news/2026/06/17/uk-startup-award-winner-helped-by-essex-researchers

Image credit: MOLO

University of Essex celebrates inspirational business innovations

Posted on February 5, 2026 | by Editor | Leave a Comment

Groundbreaking partnerships that are revolutionising industries around the country have been recognised during the University of Essex’s Celebration of Innovation.

The annual event highlights outstanding collaborations between Essex academics and businesses, charities, or organisations that have led to new and innovative ways of working.

Njord Offshore claimed the Best Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) award on the night for their commitment to developing a turbine warning system.

Read more … https://tinyurl.com/musepef5

Four Colchester Winners in Essex NOVO Awards

Posted on November 18, 2021 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

2021 saw the BEST Growth Hub launched the inaugural NOVO Awards. Focussed on recognising and rewarding innovation as well as the ability to pivot and adapt, the NOVO Awards saw entries from 100+ Essex-based businesses. Six entry streams were categorised as Economy, Creative, Society, Environment, Use of Business Support and Digitech.

An expert judging panel awarded marks, with 32 entries reaching the benchmark to win NOVO Awards. 26 of the 32 companies won classic NOVOs and six won gold NOVO Awards. Bespoke artisan-made trophies and certificates were presented at the gala presentation and dinner at Braxted Park on 21 October.

Four Colchester companies won awards. Many congratulations to:

CLIP empowers young people to take creative risks and make exciting new music with playful education services and
innovative range of music technology products. CLIP provides music workshops supporting young people to explore new technologies and get curious with sound in supportive and encouraging environments, ensuring self-perceived ability is never a barrier to entry.
Arma Karma is an Insurtech that provides flexible insurance for students and renters. Its subscription based service allows people to cover up to five valuable items at home, while they’re outside the home and abroad as standard. In doing so, they can support a good cause, with 25% of commission revenue going to a charity of their choice from our selected panel of four. Arma Karma aims to raise £1million collectively for these organisations over the next three years.
Business Time in Essex is the only B2B magazine serving Essex. Launched in 2016 it is now the largest regional B2B magazine in the UK. Distributed free to 8,000 businesses across Essex BTIE is also available free online as a flipbook magazine. It offers a wealth of news, views and information on the Essex business scene as well as marketing opportunities for businesses of all types and sizes.
Bare Native is an organic cosmetics company from Mersea Island. It saw the problem of tonnes of oyster shells being thrown into landfill each year by local restaurants as it’s against the law for shells to be thrown back into the water because of the bacteria that then kills growing oysters around the estuary. Bare Native explored the benefits of oyster shell powder and transcended it into the formulation of specialised skin care, upcycling oyster shells in the process without the use of toxic chemicals. It’s skin care line works with the world-famous, Colchester Native Oyster and has proven that the rare composition of the oyster shell is an incredible exfoliant and healing aid to the skin’s epidermal layer.

Image credit: BEST Growth Hub

James Fogg and team of RoleCatcher March 2021

RoleCatcher Platform Aims to Help Struggling Job Seekers

Posted on April 6, 2021 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

RoleCatcher, an innovative tech start-up based at the University of Essex’s Innovation Centre, has launched a new platform to empower job seekers. It is on a mission to disrupt the recruitment industry and put candidates back in control of their job search. The RoleCatcher platform enables users to search multiple job boards, organise their contacts, and track applications in one centralised hub. Candidates can also monitor their progress with the platform’s in-depth performance metrics.

The concept was born of founder James Fogg’s own frustrations with the recruitment process. In 2019, he joined the job market for the first time in nearly twenty years and was shocked to discover how dramatically things had changed.

Image credit: The Innovation Centre at the University of Essex

Innovation Centre is official partner to Amazon Web Services Activate Programme for Start-Ups

Posted on October 23, 2020 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

The team at the Innovation Centre Knowledge Gateway (ICKG) at the University of Essex, is celebrating having been selected as an official partner to the Amazon Web Services Activate programme for Start-Ups, through Oxford Innovation.

This reflects the Innovation Centre’s status as a leading organisation engaged in the support and incubation of early-stage businesses. As an official partner, we are one of just 160 partners worldwide and sit alongside some of the world’s most respected names engaged in supporting Start-Ups, Scale-Ups and SMEs including VC’s Banks and Incubators. The status also brings a raft of benefits for start-ups …

Image credit: Amazon Web Services

Essex wins Government funding to develop secure future technologies

Posted on July 14, 2020 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

Computer scientists at the University of Essex are part of a research team which successfully won a £1.8m grant from the Government’s Digital Security by Design programme.

The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) initiative aims to help the tech infrastructure of UK organisations and digital devices be more resilient to cyber attacks and the nine winning research teams will share the £10m investment.

Essex is a partner in the University of Glasgow-led AppControl project, which will leverage state-of-the-art microprocessors, developed earlier in the programme, to make sure vital systems that could be used in cars, medical robots or nuclear power plants remain digitally secure.

Image credit: University of Essex

Angels@Essex investment platform launched to support tech start-ups

Posted on June 4, 2020 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

The University of Essex is launching the Angels@Essex investment platform to support entrepreneurs with innovative and market-disrupting business ideas by giving them access to a network of investors.

Angels@Essex aims to help develop and grow the regional economy by giving start-ups access to angel investment opportunities. Angel investors are high net worth individuals, syndicates or organisations who take an equity share in a business in exchange for providing funding. They can also offer experience and support alongside their investment.

Colchester Tech Experts Launch New AI and Cloud Computing Meet Up Group

Posted on September 20, 2019 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

Calling all budding Steve Jobs and Bill Gates! Essex has a new event for like-minded tech entrepreneurs and programmers. This October sees the launch of the Essex Cloud Computing meetup group at the Innovation Centre, at the University of Essex in Colchester, with a kick-off talk about “building lean solutions with Cloud and AI”.

The event, which takes place on 9^th October at 7pm – 9pm is free to attend, but spaces must be pre-booked.

Launched by Richard Conway (Director of Elastacloud) and James Brand (Director of Innovative Creations), the meetup aims to bring expert talks to Essex, discussing topics ranging from Cloud Computing to AI to DevOps. Richard and James, who both live in Essex, launched the group as a local alternative to London-based tech events. Essex has an impressive tech scene so Richard and James felt that Essex should have a monthly meetup event that was more accessible.

Richard and James will be using their extensive network of contacts to bring in some of the leading tech speakers from both Essex and the surrounding areas to deliver high quality talks.

The benefits to local businesses to attend and participate are:

Information exchange of industry trends and news
Learn from experts in the field
Network with like-minded peers
Galvanise the tech community in Essex

The event will run every 2^nd Wednesday of the month between 7pm and 9pm, alternating between the Innovation Centre in Colchester and a Chelmsford venue.

The event is free to attend with Coffee, Beer and Pizza is being sponsored by the group’s organisers.

To attend the launch event on the 9^th October please register at https://www.meetup.com/Essex-Cloud-User-Group/

James Brand t: 07947974219 e: James@InnoCreate.com

University of Essex Cements AI Partnership with Facilities Management Industry Trailblazer

Posted on September 2, 2019 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

Cloudfm, a leading disruptive facilities management (FM) company based in Colchester, is joining forces with leading University of Essex artificial intelligence (AI) academics to drive change and revolutionise an industry that it believes has become stuck in the past.

Cloudfm has been awarded £195,000 as part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) by the UK Government’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, to improve prediction and monitoring of estate assets of some of the world’s most recognisable brands, including: PizzaExpress, KFC, Karen Millen and Tui.

Image credit: University of Essex. From left: Hossein Anisi, Lecturer at Essex’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Steve Corbett, CIO at Cloudfm, Robert Walker, Head of Business Engagement at Essex, Holly Leonard, KTP Manager at Essex and Xiaozhan Yang, KTP Associate for Cloudfm.

New £12m Innovation Centre Opened by Chancellor John Bercow at University of Essex

Posted on July 15, 2019 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

A new home for early stage and start-up technology companies and student entrepreneurs has been officially opened by The Rt Hon John Bercow MP at the University of Essex’s Knowledge Gateway research and technology park. The Innovation Centre is being operated by the UK’s leading innovation centre operator, Oxford Innovation, and will eventually host more than 50 businesses. It is also the base for Studio X, the university’s digital creative collaborative studio and student start-up programme.

Image credit: University of Essex, David Higgleton