How the Somerset Innovation Hub is helping ideas take shape

The Somerset Innovation Hub helps startups and SMEs turn strong ideas into viable businesses, from new products and markets to scalable ways of delivering services. Funded by Somerset Council & delivered by Exeter Innovation (University of Exeter), we work with early-stage startups preparing for funding and growth, as well as established SMEs looking to develop new products, enter different sectors, and strengthen resilience.

Over the past 6 months the Hub’s lead, Alex Spalding, working with colleagues and expert partners, has helped over 70 businesses shape ideas and make real progress.

In this series "Somerset Ideas At Work", we're sharing stories from businesses working with the Hub, starting with helping a founder find the right path to scale and market.

“One of the most rewarding parts of this work is helping founders with genuinely innovative ideas navigate the gap between a great concept and a viable route to market.

“A recent example involved a Somerset-based founder developing an innovative sustainable paint product with a novel licensing model, aimed at producers across the UK and EU. The idea is strong - patent protection is in place, there are real regulatory tailwinds, and a product that offers meaningful operational and logistics advantages over conventional alternatives.

“The advisory work centred on three things: helping the founder stress-test the model honestly, identifying the right sequencing to get a pilot off the ground without overextending limited resources, and shaping external communications to open doors.

“The key insight - and one that applies to many early-stage businesses - was the importance of finding one partner willing to share the risk of a first pilot, before trying to build the full structure. Real-world data from a single site changes every subsequent conversation: with investors, with licensees, with grant funders.

“The founder is now in active conversations with potential customers and partners. We’ll share another update later this year.”

Follow Somerset Innovation Hub on LinkedIn for details of future events and workshops.  Their next workshop will be a hands-on session helping businesses shape and pressure-test their new product, market and service delivery ideas - more details coming soon.

Contact Alex: a.spalding4@exeter.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/somerset-innovation-hub/