Grafine Ltd, a University of Manchester spin-out company, has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.
Dr. Maria Iliut
The business offers a range of technical development services to manufacturing companies from around the world who wish to profit from the performance benefits that graphene can add to their products.
Staff from Grafine will pitch to judges during the Royal Society of Chemistry’s (RSC) Emerging Technologies Competition final for its graphene-enhanced elastomer compounds for healthcare applications.
Following this the winner of the RSC ‘Enabling Technologies’ category will be announced during the Industry Awards in London on October 28.
Grafine founders Dr. Aravind Vijayaraghavan and Dr. Maria Iliut are both world experts in graphene, and its use in making rubbers and elastomers stronger and more durable.
Dr Iliut said: “We are delighted to have been shortlisted for such a globally recognised award.
“It comes after a very busy period which saw us open a Research and Development (R&D) facility in the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) in Manchester.
“We believe Grafine will have a huge impact on the use of 2-dimensional materials in the global rubber and elastomer markets and are excited to have the opportunity to pitch our graphene-enhanced elastomer compounds for healthcare applications to judges.”
The Emerging Technologies Competition – backed by multinational companies and one of the Top 10 Business Schools in the world; Cambridge Judge Business School – is the RSC’s annual initiative for early stage companies and academic entrepreneurs who want to commercialise their technologies to make a global impact.
Previous winners have gone on to raise a combined total of over £32 million in equity investment and grant funding, with others expanding overseas and collectively doubling their number of employees.
Grafine, supported by the University’s tech transfer organisation UMI3 and wholly owned subsidiary of the University Graphene Enabled Systems, is looking to exploit the potential of rubber and elastomer products, a global market forecasted to be more than £70 billion by 2021.
Andrew Wilkinson, CEO of UMI3, said: “It’s quite fitting that Grafine Ltd has been shortlisted by the RSC, as it is a business that is at the forefront of 2D-materials enhanced elastomer development.
“I know the team is looking forward to the next stage of this process and that Grafine is currently partnering or negotiating commercial deals with customers across the globe operating in a wide range of industrial and consumer markets.”