£50,000 Internet Of Things SME Open Call Launched By Future Cities Catapult

£50,000 of funding for UK SMEs to solve urban challenges in London, using cutting-edge Internet of Things (IoT) platform, Things Connected has been announced today by Future Cities Catapult, the Government supported UK centre of excellence in urban innovation.

As the capital’s population continues to grow at twice the rate of the rest of the UK, Future Cities Catapult wants to empower digital startups and SMEs to embrace the opportunities of IoT, whilst addressing challenges around sustainability, urban mobility, connecting communities, healthy cities and urban planning.

The winning SMEs will receive up to £10,000 each to develop and demonstrate connected devices in London using the Things Connected Low-Power LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network). With the UK’s IoT marketplace current worth £13.3bn – and expected to rise to £20bn by 2018[1] – the free-to-use network provides huge opportunities for entrepreneurs and developers to test and trial new ideas that can then be rolled out on commercial networks.

Launched in September, Things Connected is a collaboration between Future Cities Catapult, Digital Catapult, BT, Everynet, Beecham Research, AllThingsTalk, BRE, Imperial College London, King’s College London, UCL and Queen Mary University of London.

We’re very excited to be launching the Things Connected Open Call to support UK SMEs and start-ups

Future Cities Catapult Chief Executive Officer, Peter Madden, said:

“We’re very excited to be launching the Things Connected Open Call to support UK SMEs and start-ups, and further position the UK as a world leader in connectivity.

Here at Future Cities Catapult we actively engage high-growth businesses to drive innovation for urban development. If you think you can use the Internet of Things to solve the challenges that cities face, such as air quality or road safety, then I encourage you to take part in our Open Call”

The deadline for applications is midday on 12 January 2017 and Future Cities Catapult will hold an open clinic and networking event for those interested in finding out more and meeting potential collaborators on 9 December 2016.

To find out more visit http://futurecities.catapult.org.uk/opportunity/things-connected/