Nominet Trust awards £400,000 investment to social tech ventures
Melanie May | 30 September 2016 | News
Nominet Trust has awarded investment to nine social tech ventures in the sixth edition of its Social Tech Seed funding programme, with applications for the next round open until 25th October.
The Trust is investing over £400,000 in the ventures, a range of online and digital innovations being developed in the UK that will benefit a variety of people from those with physical and mental health issues, to others dealing with isolation and learning difficulties.
Successful ventures:
- Open Bionics: uses 3D body scanning and printing technology to create affordable lightweight bionic hands designed to help children adjust to limb loss and feel more positive about their differences.
- MIRROR, a new app from Emteq: harnesses the same smart technology used in films and games to measure facial movements and aims to help people in the UK with facial paralysis.
- Ami, from Oxford Computer Consultants: a new online matching platform to combat loneliness and isolation in local communities, particularly among older people, by linking them to neighbours.
- Marmo Health, created by MyOwnTeam: a chat based app to help people with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, to follow their treatment and medication regimes.
- NOW Group’s JAM smartphone app: gives people with additional needs or learning disabilities a discreet way to signal that they need extra time to access services.
- OgenBlik Ltd: uses haptic technology to support the one in six adults in the UK who suffer from an anxiety disorder.
- Wonky Star Night Zookeeper: an educational online platform using online auto-assessment to identify children whose writing shows signs of dyslexia.
- Zephx Ltd’s Zephbot: an interactive app to help children with Cystic Fibrosis complete their physiotherapy and breathing exercises correctly.
The organisations will use the funding to develop their products and services further and demonstrate their social, user and financial value.
Vicki Hearn, director of Nominet Trust, said:
“The interest this round of Social Tech Seed generated demonstrates the role that Nominet Trust fulfils in providing early stage grant funding to entrepreneurial organisations in the tech for good sector. We’re really looking forward to working with this cohort to support their growth and the social impact they can deliver.”
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Applications for the seventh round of the Social Tech Seed programme can be submitted at: www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/social-tech-seed by 25th October. The programme provides grant funding, typically between £15,000 and £50,000 for a project of 9-12 months duration, a support package including mentoring, marketing & comms advice and networking opportunities, and access to a discretionary fund of up to £5,000 should the project need access to specific expertise to support early-stage development.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.