Catalyst has announced the finalists of INVENT 2024, the leading competition for aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland. Organised by science and technology hub Catalyst with headline partner Bank of Ireland, the inspirational INVENT showcase is the main event of the year for early-stage startups and aspiring entrepreneurs to showcase their innovations to a panel of expert judges.

Saltroad, a new online platform which aims to tackle the waiting list backlog for accessing speech and language therapy in the UK  by matching parents with qualified practitioners, has raised £575,000 pre-seed funding.

Over 750 young people, with a passion for innovation, took part in Catalyst’s free work experience programme, Generation Innovation, the highest number of participants since the programme was established in 2018.

Over 100 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and universities have collectively underscored the vital role of SME and university collaborations in a new report from the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), Arresting the decline: Unlocking the potential of university-SME interaction in the UK.

Henley Business Angels (HBA) has announced a new strategic sponsorship partnership with NatWest, one of the UK’s largest retail and commercial banks, with a reputation for enhancing the startup ecosystem.   

This partnership represents a significant milestone for Henley Business Angels, providing the opportunity to leverage NatWest’s expertise, resources and extensive network to empower its members and portfolio companies to thrive and succeed from startup to exit. 

The University of Liverpool has become a founding shareholder in a spin-in company which has been formed to take forward technology for use in the insurance and financial sectors. Intellegri, an established company led by insurance industry experts, will spin-in to the University of Liverpool to commercialise software developed by Professor Simon Maskell, from the School of Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Computer Science.

Social entrepreneurs with transformative enterprises are being urged to enter a new funding competition which will culminate in a glamorous pitching event at The Shard.

Designed to drive positive social change, Ignite is being launched by the Ford Family Foundation and is supported by leading UK universities, including Durham. The overall winner will receive a £20,000 impact accelerator grant to scale up their social enterprise, with a further £30,000 being shared between the other four finalists.

Five of Northern Ireland’s most inspiring entrepreneurial teams have each been awarded £10,000 proof of concept (POC) grants from Techstart Ventures, through its Invest Northern Ireland fund, Techstart, following their successful involvement in Catalyst’s entrepreneurship programme, Co-Founders.

Digital Catapult, the UK authority on advanced digital technology, welcomes eight new companies onto the ImmexCity programme, to spearhead the adoption of immersive solutions across key sectors. The latest cohort will play a vital role in further cultivating immersive entrepreneurship in the North East, with solutions ranging from heritage conservation projects to initiatives geared towards empowering mental health.

Salar Pursuits, a Scotland-based company that has developed permeable lice and algae/jellyfish bloom shields that fit inside net pens, has been given a financial boost from a corporate angel investor.

Northern Ireland’s independent, non-profit science and technology hub, Catalyst has announced Bank of Ireland, EY and AVEVA as the three headline partners for its Generation Innovation Work Experience Programme 2024.

Focused on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, Catalyst’s Generation Innovation is a free work experience programme for 17-18-year-olds who have an interest in becoming innovators. The programme is designed to empower, enable and upskill young people for the workplace of tomorrow by pairing them with household business names such as Bank of Ireland, EY and AVEVA.

The SETsquared Partnership has been ranked as the 3rd leading start-up hub in Europe and the top entry from the UK and Ireland by the Financial Times and Statista's Special Report on Europe's Leading Start-Up Hubs.

The report ranked 125 start-up hubs across 21 European countries using data and feedback from alumni and independent experts, including investors, and it also examined the success of emerging companies.