Our new Chair, Ian Kershaw, welcomed Professor Mike Pitts and Professor Laura Foster from Innovate UK to the Biaco site. The purpose was to explain to Innovate the exciting potential of the technology and demonstrate it in action.

Both were impressed and since the visit Biaco has been asked to apply to join an accelerated SME programme that Innovate UK are running. This involves an assessment of the growth prospects of Biaco and concentrates Innovate's resources on Biaco's three key challenges. It was agreed that these are likely to be finding the financial support, human resources and partners that the company needs as it grows.

Innovate has previously helped Biaco with small grants in 2023 and 2024. In addition, together with help from Innovate, we are exploring larger-scale European funding in collaborations with various organisations. These collaborations include working with Professor William Drury, CEO Power Networks Distribution Centre, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and with Professor Christopher Schifflechner, Chair of Energy Systems, Technical University of Munich.