Acceleration Through Innovation

Acceleration Through Innovation (ATI) has been helping businesses within Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to take their ideas from concept to reality. Launched in 2017, ATI was a 3 year £3million project supported by the ERDF to drive a culture of innovation and assist businesses who are looking to adopt innovative processes, or who have aspirations to bring a new product or service to the market.

Led by the University of Plymouth and in partnership with Cornwall Innovation, ATI facilitated Pop-up Innovation Centres  which took the services and support of the Innovation Centres out into the wider business community.

ATI differentiated itself from the market by offering world renowned innovation expertise accredited by the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (IKE). Their Certified Business Innovation Advisors utilised IKE’s tools and frameworks to share innovation knowledge and accelerate the pace of innovation within small to medium sized enterprises.  Businesses received a bespoke innovation audit, followed by a minimum of 12 hours of specialist support with our Business Innovation Advisors, who offered clarity on the innovation process, guidance and consultancy throughout the businesses’ innovation journey.

Businesses working with ATI  also benefited from access to world class research and facilities from their lead partners at the University of Plymouth, via ATI’s Innovation Champion.

For those who wished to develop a Research Development & Innovation (RD&I) capacity within their business, or encourage a culture of innovation and creativity, the programme provided two opportunities to participate in Innovation Masterclasses.

The first focused on Employer Led Innovation and looked to develop in-company Innovation Champions to disseminate innovation down into a business.

The second  focused on Employee Led Innovation and was a bespoke offering for selected businesses who wish to encourage a culture of innovation throughout their organisation. Delivered in-house by the ATI team, the masterclass looked to nurture an innovative team ethos, to drive innovation from the bottom-up.

The project also offered financial support to minimise the risks involved with the pursuit of innovation project.  Within the programme, following the 12 hour business innovation journey, the ATI Innovation Fund would assist eligible SMEs with grants of between £2,500 and £10,000 for both capital and revenue cost.

The programme also offered a range of engagement activities which were delivered at ATI’s existing locations, within a business premises or from one of their pop-up centres across Cornwall.

Their  bi-monthly Cornwall Innovation Clubs, offered businesses an insight into a variety of innovation topics and provided inspiration of a culture of innovation across the county. These networking breakfast events also encouraged the members to share knowledge, ideas and collaborate – often resulting in partnership and impactful collaboration between Cornish businesses.

Their Innovation Surgeries were 2-3 hour high-value sessions which were designed around the latest thinking and the identified needs of our clients. The topics covered: Intellectual Property, Research & Development, Tax Credits, Managing an Innovation Project and 3D Printing & Prototyping.

Following this first phase, the project was extended for another three years until 2013. Information About the ATI2 project can be found here.