Awaretag receives South Gloucestershire Council innovation grant

Awaretag has been awarded funding through Toshiba R&D and South Gloucestershire’s UMBRELLA fund to help us further develop our innovative range of products that can make a real difference in tackling today’s societal challenges.

Five small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the digital technology sector have received investment from the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Reacting to the award, Awaretag’s Chief executive and founder, Leonard Carey, said:

“We are excited to have been chosen to work with UMBRELLA and South Gloucestershire Council to explore a technology that has the potential to deliver so much value for residents.”

The successful businesses awarded funding include:

  • Aware Technologies Limited (Awaretag)
  • Altered Carbon
  • Tryambakam Digital
  • 100 Percent IT Ltd
  • DIREK

The five companies share a total of £125,000 in funding to invest in innovation. As well as financial support, the successful businesses also receive technical support and will be able to trial their products through the region’s UMBRELLA network.

The network provides a digital platform for testing products and services in areas such as robotics and wireless communication in a real-world environment.

The award will help accelerate the development of our innovative sensor technology that allows landlords and tenants to understand the causes of mould and damp and provide personalised advice on how to make homes warm, dry and energy-efficient.

Our solution combines self-install sensors, edge intelligence and web-based visualisations. While technologically advanced, the system is all about people and focused on the future, explains Carey.

“We are looking forward to working with the housing sector and contributing to solving a problem that could help society understand how to create good quality homes and accelerate our journey to net zero.”

UMBRELLA is one of the world’s largest programmable ‘Living Labs’, connecting South Gloucestershire’s five innovation hubs: Bristol & Bath Science Park, National Composites Centre at Emersons Green, the University of the West of England, Bristol Robotics Lab, and Future Space. Commercial partners we’ll be collaborating with include Toshiba, who have kindly supported the programme with investment and by sharing their expertise.

Councillor Toby Savage, Leader of South Gloucestershire Council, said:

“It has been exciting to hear about the innovative products and services that are being developed in South Gloucestershire and further afield, which will help tackle our current and future challenges.

“I am pleased that as a local authority, we are continuing to build on our area’s innovative heritage and are able to support this pioneering work. I look forward to learning more about these specialist projects and seeing how they develop.”

To learn more about the competition, visit the UMBRELLA website.