Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Darling was recently in the region to unveil the East of England Development Agency's new £1.5m Proof of Concept Fund, along with £1.15 million from the DTI-led Technology Programme for a new Cambridge-based collaboration to research ways to improve hydrogen fuel cells, which can be used in ‘greener’ vehicles.

Darling said: “The East of England has always been an ideas and innovation powerhouse. We are backing it all the way. Innovation and new ideas translate into new jobs, which means good news for the Cambridge area and the UK as a whole. This £1.5m ideas fund is the next step.”

“In particular, we’ve invested more than £11 million in the Cambridge area since 2004 to companies to develop cutting edge technology, through our Technology Programme.

“The newest project I can announce is a £1.15 million collaboration for research to help further develop hydrogen technology for cars and make it cheaper and more efficient. This research is good for consumers and the environment, potentially cutting costs and emissions.”

During his visit, Darling got to grips with a ‘green’ car, featuring new technology to measure emissions, developed by Lysanda, a company awarded funding last year’s as part of the new fund's pilot.

The new PoC fund will help entrepreneurs in business and higher education research the commercial viability of their ideas. Last year, the pilot project backed 50 local firms.

The Fund will allocate funding of between £5,000 and £40,000 to a maximum of 75 percent of project cost over four seasonal rounds. The deadline for the spring (first) round closes on 20 April with awards scheduled to be announced on 22 June.

Further information including an application form, guidance notes and case studies on some past winners is available at www.eeda.org.uk/proofofconcept.

During his visit to Cambridge, Darling also visited Light Blue Optics at St John's Innovation Park, which has developed an innovative laser-based miniature projection technology, and Plastic Logic on Cambridge Science Park, which manufactures a revolutionary new technology for printing electronic devices.