The Tees Valley Innovation Accelerator (TIA) project

Public funding, product development and consultancy to Tees Valley SMEs

TWI Ltd has joined with Teesside University to provide funded innovation support for businesses in the Tees Valley region. The Tees Valley Innovation Accelerator (TIA) offers fully funded support to Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Tees Valley region for innovations in new product, process and services development before taking them to market.

Helping businesses in the Tees Valley area bring product ideas to market

Ideally suited for Tees businesses focused on innovation and product development, the TIA will enable companies to leverage public funding, consultation and prototyping to maximise their potential for exploiting new technology concepts.

A publically funded service to Tees Valley SMEs, the TIA can support the transformation and acceleration of SME innovations into commercial products, services or processes. Consultancy services through TWI will help plot a route from idea to market and is supported by rapid prototyping of products through Teesside University.

Our objectives:

• Support small to medium sized enterprises operating in the Tees Valley area by engaging with companies focused on innovation and product development.
• Providing support and expertise to help businesses leverage public funding to innovate.
• Helping businesses realise their ambitions.
• Increase the proportion of Tees Valley SMEs that are innovation active and improve the regions research intensity.
• Create a legacy of innovation within SMEs which will support growth over many years.
• Supporting regional companies in developing new technologies and products for new and existing markets, helping them remain relevant in a rapidly changing world

The Innovation Accelerator was officially launched in June 2020 with a webinar for Tees Valley businesses and the scheme is now open to interested SMEs who would like to get involved.

The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund in the Northern Powerhouse Region.

TWI experts are delivering initial engagement and meetings, innovation consultancy and proposal support to all SMEs. 

World renowned expertise that TWI bring to the TIA:

TWI Expertise

The knowhow to turn your innovative idea generation into a new product or solution with the potential to attract collaborative public grant funding.	Bring together a consortium of experts from TWI’s Industrial Membership base and innovation networks to work with you on developing the concept further so that you can take to market.
Provide guidance on the optimal way to write and present proposals for funding bids.	Manage the complete process from proposal development through to the final submitted bid to the funding body.

High-level academic specialities of Teesside University:

Read the Teesside University TIA Project Page

Teesside academics working in conjunction with experts at TWI will provide a product prototyping service. Located in the north of England, the university has specialities across a range of business applications:

• Electronics, Mechanics and Photonics
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Manufacturing Simulation
• Chemistry and Biology
• Development of Smart Products
• Bringing together physical components with sensing and actuating elements as well as computing devices and connectivity;
• Facilities for manufacturing including inkjet 3D printing and micro-milling

TIA will be delivered from the Teesside Advanced Manufacturing Park (TeesAMP) home of TWI Middlesbrough, where the expansion of TWI facilities is part of the regional aim to become a national and international centre for innovations in products and services through engineering, manufacturing and medical technology research.