A Norwich entrepreneur behind a company offering sustainable carbon-negative packaging to transform international food shipping has won a ‘Dragon’s Den-style’ competition hosted by Norwich Research Park.
John Farley, CEO of iBoxit, was crowned the winner of an Innovation Hothouse competition at the city's research and innovation campus last Tuesday.
iBoxit, which is headquartered at Norwich Research Park, is on a mission to make polystyrene and disposable packaging a thing of the past by replacing it with pallets and insulated produce boxes made from entirely recycled materials.
Last year the firm was awarded a grant worth £850,000 from Innovate UK to broaden its product line to include anti-microbial washes and film coatings for packaging that extend the shelf-life and freshness of food.
'SUCH AN HONOUR'
“Firstly, I want to say what a fantastic event it was,” Mr Farley, CEO of iBoxit, said.
“We have been based at Norwich Research Park for a while now and really appreciate the world-class facilities, the talent here and the profile you gain.
“Winning this competition adds more credibility to our business as we look to get our products to market.”
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The event was the latest in a series of Enterprise events run by Anglia Innovation Partnership, the campus management organisation at Norwich Research Park, in collaboration with the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Royal Society.
Up for grabs for the top three placed companies was a year’s free virtual tenancy at the park, with existing tenants receiving a marketing support package instead, including expert advice and promotional opportunities.
iBoxit also received a £500 cash prize with the runners-up receiving £250 and £150 respectively, awarded by the Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence and the UEA Science Faculty.
All eight finalists each received £150, donated by Richard Flavell, chair of the Science and Impact Executive Board at the International Wheat Yield Partnership.
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The event was chaired by Dr Soraya Jones, the Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence (hosted by the Science Faculty) at the UEA - who worked closely with Prof Sheng Qi, Professor of Pharmaceutical Material Science and Technology and Associate Dean for Innovation (Faculty of Science) at the UEA - and Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership, and her team.
Prof Qi, chair of the judging panel, said: “The standard of pitches and the sheer quality of the innovation on display from the eight finalists was highly impressive.
"Choosing the winners proved to be an exceptionally challenging task for the judges, as every finalist was deserving of recognition.
"Ultimately, we awarded the top three places to iBoxit, KNEE3D, and PfBIO. These teams stood out for their clear strategies to bring their products to market and the significant potential of their solutions to address the critical issues they aim to resolve.”
It is one of only five BBSRC [Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council] funded research and innovation campuses in the UK, meaning it receives government funding for strategic research programmes.
Three of BBSRC’s research institutes are also located at the Norwich campus: the Quadram Institute, the John Innes Centre and the Earlham Institute.
The campus is also home to a fourth institute, the Sainsbury Laboratory, as well as the UEA and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
It was announced earlier this month that companies at Norwich Research Park will now have access to up to £100m of funding to find solutions to tackle the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
READ MORE: Up to £100m of funding to be made available to companies at Norwich Research Park
Climate and impact investor Greensphere Capital's Gaia Sciences Innovation partnership has made £75m already available to invest in businesses emerging from world-leading bioscience and environmental science institutes based in the UK.
The full fund is expected to close at £100m in early 2025.
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