ProKyma, a spin-out from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), which was facilitated through InterAct, has announced a £470K funding round led by Merseyside Special Investment Fund's Liverpool Seed Fund. NESTA, Rainbow Seed Fund and ProKyma management also participated in the round. The investment will allow ProKyma to develop its 'Sonic Separation' technology which uses ultrasound waves to purify and concentrate bacteria from samples like blood, faeces, soil and water, for more rapid, sensitive and accurate analysis. Please follow the following link for more information: http://www.nesta.org.uk/news/media_centre/news_releases/release.aspx?id=5776

The InterAct partnership has recently been awarded just under £3m of funding to extend and expand the collaboration following two successful bids to the fourth round of DIUS’s PSRE scheme.

The first award (£1.536m) will widen the scope of the highly successful InterAct IP exploitation project, expanding it to include the recent additions of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (www.cefas.co.uk), and the Health and Safety Laboratory (www.hsl.gov.uk).

The format for the expanded project will be similar to that for the original InterAct, with workshops being used to identify areas of synergy which can then be followed-up and exploited.

The second award (£1.46m) will provide a Proof of Concept fund for the expanded project. Funds will be available to develop technologies with commercial potential to a stage where they can be effectively demonstrated to the market.

The activities of the expanded partnership will commence in the autumn