Organised by the North by Northwest partners (NxNW) - a constrotium of seven UK universities, researcher Joe Price was selected to join the Lean Launch Programme (LLP). LLP is a game-changing 10 week customer discovery programme that allows university researchers to rapidly test whether there is a market for their research idea, product or service.
Joe was selected to bring EVOLUTOR, a microbial engineering technology jointly developed by department academics Dr. Tuck Seng Wong and Dr. Kang Lan Tee, as well as Sheffield student Brooks J. Rady to the commercial world.
During the LLP, Joe participated in a biotechnology trade show, spoke to a range of potential customers from small start-ups to large enterprises, analysed market opportunities and identified potential income sources for a spin out. As part of the LLP, Joe had to pitch his business plan to a panel of commercialisation advisers and experts. Joe was praised for his excellent and engaging pitch, flexible business solution and solid action plan.
His market discovery exercise will also bring direct benefit to the Proof of Concept (PoC) grant, awarded to the Sheffield team by the Royal Academy of Engineering to accelerate the translation of university research into commercial reality. Both LLP and PoC underpin the team’s ambition to spin out a Sheffield-based company to provide microbial engineering solution to the biotechnology sector.
“The LLP has been a fantastic opportunity for me to engage with an industrial market and develop a wide range of new skills focussed on business planning and development. Throughout the programme, I have gained confidence in engaging with potential customers and pitching to investors. The LLP has been an invaluable experience for me and I am very excited for the EVOLUTOR technology and what 2021 has in store for our team’s commercialization plan.”
Joe Price
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering