MaRS partners with Innovate UK to launch UK startups into North American markets

Eight advanced manufacturing ventures look to scale in fields such as robotics, machine vision systems and electron beam printing

TORONTO, October 18, 2021 – MaRS today announced its partnership with Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Programme to support the international expansion of UK advanced manufacturing companies. Eight promising ventures will use the pilot program at the Toronto-based innovation hub as a launch pad to find international partners, connections and customers to scale in the North American market.

“The partnership will accelerate the North American growth of our UK cohort and strengthen the manufacturing ecosystem here in Canada,” said Jon Dogterom, senior vice president of Venture Services at MaRS. “We want to build closer connections between the UK and Canadian innovation economy overall.”

Innovate UK, the UK Government’s innovation agency will create a blueprint for future programs with MaRS and collaborations among accelerators, incubators and private ventures around the world. Similar programs are being tested in other global markets.

The first round of advanced manufacturing companies spans the worlds of high precision robotics, vision systems driving automated assembly and high-performance additive and composite fabrication. This inaugural cohort includes a maker of robotic farming harvesters, a company that has developed an automated real-time inspection system and another pushing the boundaries in additive metal production leveraging electron beam printing technology.

The members of the first group of advanced manufacturing ventures are:

The four-month Manufacturing Incubation Program includes targeted workshops, advisory support and networking opportunities to help the participants sharpen their value proposition and better understand the market opportunities. By integrating the UK ventures into the MaRS ecosystem, the program aims to give the ventures a comprehensive understanding of the shape and needs of North America’s manufacturing community.

“MaRS gives these promising innovative UK manufacturing ventures a launch pad to the North American market and the potential for exponential growth,” said David Golding, the Head of Global Innovation Partnerships at Innovate UK.

“Enabling access to the North American market is expected to be an important step in turning these companies into global superstars,” said Jane Kearns, vice president of Growth Services at MaRS. “Our MaRS team is globally renowned for helping companies scale to their full potential and we are excited to work with the Innovate UK cohort.”

The participants will work with MaRS Advanced Manufacturing Program members like NGen, the organization leading Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, and Autodesk Technology Centers, a leader in 3D design and engineering software along with other corporate and community collaborators. It is also anchored by support from innovation and growth specialists at Innovate UK EDGE, to derive maximum benefit from the program.

 

About MaRS

MaRS is North America’s largest urban innovation hub. A registered non-profit, MaRS supports high-growth startups and scale-ups tackling key issues in health, cleantech, fintech and other sectors. In addition, MaRS convenes all members of the tech ecosystem to drive breakthrough discoveries, grow the economy and make an impact by solving real problems for real people — in Canada and around the world.

About Innovate UK

Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas, including those from the UK’s world-class research base. It connects businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn these ideas into commercially successful products and services, and business growth.

 

Media Contact

media@marsdd.com

 

Nikolas Pollinger

businessgrowth@innovateuk.ukri.org