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University of Nottingham spin-out MatAlytics secures investment to transform industrial asset monitoring

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MatAlytics Ltd is redefining how industrial operators understand, monitor and extend the life of critical assets. The company applies physics-informed artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver real-time, high-fidelity insight into structural health, enabling faster and more confident decision-making across asset-intensive industries. 

The investment round is being led by Momenta Ventures, a leading industrial impact venture capital firm, alongside the University of Nottingham and other contributors. The funding will enable MatAlytics to scale its technology and accelerate deployment across asset-intensive sectors, including energy and power generation. 

MatAlytics was founded on more than a decade of applied research undertaken at the University of Nottingham, focused on understanding how materials behave under complex mechanical and thermal conditions. The company’s flagship CITRUS platform, initially prototyped with funding from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), applies physics-informed neural networks to deliver real-time insight into structural integrity, enabling engineers to monitor stress, fatigue, and damage accumulation during operation. 

CITRUS has benefited from early validation and technical feedback through exploratory studies with leading industrial organisations, including EDF and Uniper UK. These engagements focus on fatigue-sensitive, high-value components in power generation and energy infrastructure, where both downtime and over-conservatism incur high costs. 

Dr Benedikt Engel, CEO and Co-Founder of MatAlytics, said: 
“Most asset failures don’t happen because engineers lack models. They happen because those models stop at the design phase, while the asset keeps aging in operation. What we’ve built at MatAlytics brings engineering truth into live decision-making. By combining physics with real operational data, operators can see damage accumulating as it happens and act before risk becomes failure. That shift, from periodic assessment to continuous integrity, is what unlocks both safety and performance.” 

While many industrial analytics platforms rely on data-driven prediction or offline simulation, MatAlytics operates in a distinct category. Traditional monitoring solutions depend on sparse historical data and black-box models that struggle with rare but catastrophic failure. At the same time, other physics-based AI approaches primarily focus on accelerating design workflows and stop short of live operational use. 

MatAlytics is deploying physics-informed AI in real operating environments, where temperature, load and fatigue continuously affect component integrity. By generating its own high-fidelity simulation data and embedding true mechanical behaviour directly into its models, the platform avoids bias, remains robust even when data is limited, and delivers real-time insight that operators can trust. 

This positions MatAlytics ahead of incumbent monitoring vendors and emerging digital twin providers as industrial markets shift from descriptive analytics towards continuous, decision-grade integrity intelligence. 

“MatAlytics closes the gap between models and machines. They bring the rigour of finite element analysis into a real-time, accessible workflow, enabling engineers to validate decisions with speed, traceability and fidelity,” said Jerry O’Gorman, Partner at Momenta Ventures. “We are excited to support their journey and help scale their impact globally.” 

With Momenta Ventures backing, MatAlytics is poised to bring real-time engineering insight into day-to-day industrial decision-making, strengthening asset integrity, resilience and performance at scale. 

Read the full announcement on Momenta Ventures website. 

University of Nottingham spin-out celebrated in national accelerator programme’s 10th anniversary report

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Nottingham Technology Ventures (NTV), the team behind the university’s portfolio of spin-out companies – which translate research into real-world impact – is this month celebrating the 10th anniversary of a research accelerator programme which has played a major part in their success.

The Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) Programme is a UK-based pre-accelerator that helps researchers explore the commercial potential of their innovations and celebrated its 10th birthday in February.

To mark the significant ICURe milestone, Dr George Rice, Director of Knowledge Exchange and Business Engagement, was invited to speak at a celebration event this month. University of Nottingham spin-out MatAlytics Ltd was also highlighted – in the official 10th anniversary impact report – a major recognition of Nottingham’s record for successful knowledge exchange.

Funded by Innovate UK, the ICURe programme provides training, funding, and mentorship to support market applications. Since 2014, it has helped secure around £500 million in investment through private funding, licensing, and research grants, leading to numerous spinouts and licensing agreements. The programme equips researchers with the skills and confidence to transition into commercial ventures, facilitates access to business advisors, and delivery partners, and helps turn ideas into impactful businesses.

George explained: “It was great to join technology transfer colleagues, investors, entrepreneurs and Innovate UK in  Manchester to celebrate ICURe’s success and innovation. ICURe is continuing to evolve its approach, and Nottingham will continue to engage to accelerate a range of propositions towards finding their key market opportunities.”

“The Commercialisation team first engaged with ICURe in 2018 and to date, we have formed eight spin-out companies through the process. As well as creating those companies we have secured new partnerships and license agreements, and there are more in the pipeline.”

Spin-out MatAlytics Ltd, which specialises in AI software for the power industry to analyse and influence operational behaviour, was featured in the official ICURe 10th anniversary impact report, which was formally launched at the celebration: “We were delighted to have been selected as an example of best practice. The decision to showcase one of our spin-outs from the hundreds that ICURe has supported demonstrates how effective Nottingham’s expertise and support for commercialisation is, and we are very proud to be associated with the UK’s leading early-stage research pre-accelerator program.”

George went on to describe how the IP Commercialisation team have made full use of the training and resources ICURe provides, having worked with all of the programme’s national delivery partners in creating eight spinout companies, namely:

Dr Benedikt Engel, CEO at MatAlytics, said: “Coming from a purely academic background, I had little understanding of intellectual property, commercialisation, or how to spin out a company. The support from the University of Nottingham during ICURe and beyond was invaluable. George and his team brought a wealth of experience, guiding us through each stage of the journey – from shaping our business proposition during ICURe to successfully spinning out the company.”

University of Nottingham experts use mobile tech to help diagnose mental health conditions

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One in four people suffer from mental health issues at some point in their lives at a £94 billion a year cost to the economy.

But a quicker route to diagnosing mental health problems could soon be available on your mobile phone.

Experts at the University of Nottingham have developed technology which uses cameras to spot the changes in physical behaviour caused by conditions ranging from stress through to depression.

Dr Michel Valstar, Dr Anthony Brown and Dr Timur Almaev have developed technology which picks out changes in people’s facial expressions which are caused by mental health conditions.

Now, they have turned that technology into a business, BlueSkeye AI, which is being supported by the University through Nottingham Technology Ventures, which manages the University’s portfolio of spin-out businesses.

BlueSkeye AI blends advanced research into mental health with specialist expertise in computer vision, machine learning and AI. Its team has worked with psychiatrists, specialist nurses and primary care trusts to analyse the common signs of mental health problems and devise monitoring systems which are capable of picking them up.

Michel said: “The idea stems from work that we have been involved with to try to identify and recognise depressive illnesses. One of the physical changes which takes place if people have a mental health issue is motor control, and that can manifest itself in changes in facial expression and tone of voice.

“What we have developed is technology which senses changes from which we can identify all the cues of medical conditions which change your behaviour – a field we call behaviomedics.”

Working with Nottingham Technology Ventures (NTV), BlueSkeye has already identified a number of potential uses for its technology, which is likely to be licensed to partners able to integrate it with their digital healthcare platforms.

It could then be used by sectors like pharmaceuticals to monitor the impact of treatments, and by large employers to help people manage their mental wellbeing.

Michel added: “BlueSkeye AI will put the ability to monitor mental health into the hands of individuals and medical professionals by building an affordable and accessible tool on mobile.”

Dr Andy Naylor, the CEO of NTV, said: “BlueSkeye AI is one of the latest additions to the University’s spin-out portfolio and we believe it has developed an original solution for what is likely to be a very significant market opportunity.

“We are helping the team to identify routes to market and also secure further financial backing. This is a very promising opportunity that has appeal across a number of sectors.”

“Many people will be familiar with the work of Sir Peter Mansfield and his team in developing the technology behind the MRI scanner, and health research remains an important priority for the University.

“Our decision to support BlueSkeye reflects not only a belief that this represents an important opportunity but also the fact that it could help to identify, treat and manage conditions which affect very many people.”

Background Notes

Photo Credit: Bianca Castillo, Unsplash.

For more information contact Stuart Baird [email protected] 07799 678009

Website: https://blueskeye.com/

1] Affects 25% of population: MIND – https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/statistics-and-facts-about-mental-health/how-common-are-mental-health-problems/#.XPE8xYhKhPY

2] £94bn cost to UK economy: OECD (as reported by The Guardian) – https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/22/mental-illness-costs-uk-94bn-a-year-oecd-report-says-employment-economy-productivity

Nottingham Technology Ventures manages the University of Nottingham’s spin-out portfolio and the Nottingham invention Fund It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University and is based in the Ingenuity Centre at the University of Nottingham Innovation Park. www.nottinghamtechventures.com  

The University has helped its spin-out companies to secure millions of pounds in funding to develop technologies in fields which range from manufacturing to mental health. It has invested nearly £900,000 during the past year in nine businesses which began life as university research projects.

The investments have helped the University’s spin-out portfolio secure further funding worth £14 million – money which will help them to either commercialise their ideas and bring them to market as viable products or build on an existing market presence.

The financial backing also forms a key part of the University’s wider long-term strategy of supporting the development of technologies that have the capacity to improve the world around us.

They include support for businesses active in fields such as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose mental health conditions, and the manufacture of nanoparticles – which change the way surfaces behave.

The investments have been led by Nottingham Technology Ventures, which manages the University’s portfolio of 20 spin-out companies, working in partnership with specialist investment funds such as Mercia Technologies and Foresight Group.

University of Nottingham investments spur growth in spin-out companies

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THE UNIVERSITY of Nottingham has helped its spin-out companies to secure millions of pounds in funding to develop technologies in fields which range from manufacturing to mental health.

It has invested nearly £900,000 during the past year in nine businesses which began life as university research projects.

The investments have helped the University’s spin-out portfolio secure further funding packages totalling around £14 million – money which will help them to either commercialise their ideas and bring them to market as viable products, or build on an existing market presence.

The financial backing also forms a key part of the University’s wider long-term strategy of supporting the development of technologies that have the capacity to improve the world around us.

They include support for businesses active in fields such as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose mental health conditions, and the manufacture of nanoparticles – which change the way surfaces behave.

The investments have been led by Nottingham Technology Ventures, which manages the University’s portfolio of 20 spin-out companies, working in partnership with specialist investment funds such as Mercia Technologies and Foresight Group. They include:

  • Promethean Particles, which has received £250,000 from the University as part of a £1.24m funding round led by Foresight Group, which manages the government-backed Midlands Engine Investment Fund. Promethean has set up the world’s largest nanoparticle manufacturing plant in Nottingham, able to produce materials at a microscopic scale which can then be used to improve the performance of products which range from printed electronic circuits to medical implants. Its success stems from specialist expertise in nanoparticle manufacturing, where it has developed a patented reactor which enables continuous production of particles.
  • Blueskeye AI, which is developing technology that uses cameras with embedded AI software to spot the changes in physical behaviour caused by conditions ranging from stress to depression. It receives £100,000 from the University as it continues work on a process which could speed up the diagnosis, treatment and management of a range of mental health conditions affecting a quarter of the UK population.
  • TextureJet, which receives £60,00 from the University alongside £250,000 from Innovate UK, to develop a new manufacturing technology which leads to more efficient and environmentally-friendly surface treatments.

Early-stage technology companies can find it difficult to secure funding, but the University uses its long-established expertise in research commercialisation to identify strong teams whose inventions have clear market potential based on broad societal benefit.

Dr Andy Naylor, CEO of NTV, says that the University’s support for spin-out businesses also helps give other funders the confidence to come on board.

He explained: “Technology companies can find it extremely difficult to access the funding needed to develop their products when they are at an early stage in their life. Their technology can be seen as unproven and it may take time for them to develop it to the point where it’s commercially viable.

“The University’s investment not only comes with the support of an experienced team to help companies achieve their goals, it can also reassure other potential investors that the ideas are have serious commercial potential.

“Supporting technologies that can have an impact at scale is central to the University’s core mission and doing so in partnership with other funding organisations demonstrates real strength in the numbers of opportunities for investment in innovation across the Midlands.”

NTV has channelled the University’s financial support through two specific funds – the Pathfinder Fund, which helps spin-outs with their initial set-up costs, and the Invention Fund, which provides more substantial backing as these spin-outs seek to develop and grow.

Between them, the two funds invested a total of £881,000 during the year. Besides these current investments, the University has a pipeline of new spin-out businesses which it is also likely to support.

Dr Naylor added: “The last year has been extremely successful, with a series of new investments in spin-outs which are developing some incredibly exciting new technologies.

“This builds on the University of Nottingham’s long track record of research commercialisation and it’s one of the key reasons why we have such a strong pipeline of new opportunities for investment.”

Warm welcome for Minerva Nottingham as new investment collaboration launches

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NOTTINGHAM business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors have welcomed the launch of a new angel investment network for the region created to improve the investment culture in the Midlands.

Minerva Nottingham, a new collaboration between the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and Minerva Business Angels, part of the University of Warwick Science Park, has now held its inaugural pitching event at NTU.

The new group aims to raise the profile of opportunities both for growth companies and potential investors in Nottingham and the wider D2N2 LEP area, and to close the gap in investment between the Midlands and the South East.

Of  a total of£1.9bn invested through the Enterprise Investment Scheme in 2018, less than two per cent was invested in the East Midlands – compared to around 70 per cent in the South East and London, with the majority going to London-based companies. 

The launch event was formally opened by Professor Nigel Wright, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Nottingham Trent University, and Professor Lucy Donaldson, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Nottingham. It was attended by more than 70 delegates.

Speaking at the launch, Professor Wright highlighted the importance of innovative finance initiatives in supporting local entrepreneurs. He said: “We are so pleased with the reception for the Minerva Nottingham initiative from the business and financial communities, as reflected by the attendance here tonight. Enterprise sits at the centre of the University and reaches out to engage with the business community and supports our student and academic enterprises. 

“Our Enterprise Innovation Centre, currently under construction, is an integral part of our Enterprise plan to encourage investment and growth of entrepreneurism. Minerva Nottingham will sit at the heart of this strategy helping to deliver investment. The University of Nottingham has an enviable reputation for innovation and we are pleased to have it alongside us on this journey.”

Spin-out success

Professor Lucy Donaldson said: “The University of Nottingham has a long history of entrepreneurism and innovation and is ranked second in the UK for its spin-out success, with companies generating over £150m in turnover.

“The companies I have been involved would never have succeeded if we didn’t get the initial investment and the critical act of faith from angel investors. It allowed us to grow and raise further funding. Angels are amazingly important assets, and I am glad to both support and be part of this Minerva Nottingham initiative.”

Liz McKenzie, an angel investor and Vice-Chair of the West Midlands Growth Company, spoke about her positive experience of being an investor and urged others to follow suit.

She said: “Being able to work as a collective with like-minded individuals from a broad church of experience who are all successful in their own right is great; it’s both effective and enjoyable.  The way their connectivity assists growing companies is genuinely impressive. We need more Angels to come on board.”

Alex Toft, Head of Minerva, added: “This event is a great step in establishing a local network, which can link in with our other groups across the Midlands, North West and London.  Through this connectivity and growing collective, we hope to offer a stronger support network and access to finance for all the businesses calling on us for support. 

“We are keen to unlock that latent capacity of expertise, contacts and capital that remains untapped in our region which entrepreneurs would relish to access. Experience and expertise are just as valuable as financial support.”

All three companies who pitched at the launch – Footfalls and Heartbeats, Cognitive Business and YPP Group – received expressions of interest and say they look forward to working with that interest.

Minerva Nottingham plans regular events including embarking on a programme to provide training for those interested in becoming an Angel investor. Its next investment event will be in January 2020 and anyone interested in becoming an investor should get in touch via [email protected].  Companies seeking investment should apply through the Minerva website, at www.minerva.uk.net

University of Nottingham spin-outs open up new horizons in energy and health

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Business investment can often seem like a story of nothing but the financial proposition: Where’s the opportunity, when will we see a return?

At Nottingham Technology Ventures (NTV), we’re certainly focused on supporting ideas which have clear visibility of strong market opportunities.

But our perspective on those opportunities also takes into account a much broader context. What are the emerging technologies and markets, what new opportunities might emerge and – perhaps most importantly of all for us – what benefits could new technologies and the companies developing them bring to the world around us?

This horizon scanning is a key part of our responsibilities in managing the University of Nottingham’s portfolio of spin-out businesses. The University has a long and distinguished track record of commercialising research and doing so in ways which help bring to market new technologies and products that deliver genuine societal benefit.

So where is the future taking us, and how is that manifesting itself in the investments that the University makes? The physical sciences and life sciences are always a useful guide and some of the broad themes around energy, climate, sustainability and health will be familiar.

But the research related to these challenges is perhaps less well publicised, so it may be helpful to take a look at some of the commercial opportunities that research is opening up – and how NTV, as the steward of the University’s interest and its wider mission in relation to spin-outs, is helping those opportunities come into sharper focus.

In the field of energy, we currently have two companies in the formation phase.

Cheesecake Energy addresses the challenge of energy storage, one of the keys to enabling the wider adoption of renewable sources like wind and solar, where we’re ultimately not in control of the natural ‘on-off’ switch. The company is developing a highly cost-effective solution which uses compressed air and rock-gravel beds to store the energy, then allows it to be discharged into the electricity system over a period of hours.

Huge opportunity

This kind of medium-term energy storage presents a huge opportunity. The annual global market size for these solutions has been estimated at $46bn by 2025. Medium-term storage could be a key enabler of more widespread electric vehicle charging and for managing peak flows from renewable sources into the grid. Cheesecake already has some notable industrial partners, a strong endorsement of the company’s approach and its technology.

Whilst Cheesecake addresses a fundamental issue with renewable energy, another of our new potential spin-outs delves into a specific technical aspect of electrical generation systems – power electronics. TTPi (short for The Thinking Pod Innovations) is developing technology to enable widespread use of new kinds of semiconductor for AC/DC conversion and conditioning of electrical power.

Based on the use of gallium nitride rather than traditional silicon, TTPI’s technology will enable industry to more easily use these wide-band semiconductors to deliver significant efficiency gains and reduced costs.

The potential applications here are vast – these power converters are used in everything from wind turbines and solar cells to electric vehicles, and all relate to more efficient use of energy.

Our Vice-Chancellor, Shearer West, made clear only a few days ago just how important the drive for sustainability and addressing climate change is at the University of Nottingham. It’s a priority in our global research programme and visible in everything from the Carbon Neutral Laboratory on the University of Nottingham Innovation Park to the investments we’re talking about here.

Health research

Alongside sustainability, another important focus in our drive to find viable commercial solutions to societal challenges is health. This reflects the research activity at the University’s teaching hospital – the Queen’s Medical Centre – and our strong Faculty of Engineering.

We have already seen some significant successes – Exonate, with its pioneering work on eye drops to treat age-related macular degeneration, and Monica Healthcare, which developed a lifesaving foetal heart monitor. They are part of a tradition of health-related research at the University whose aim is to impact positively on the quality of people’s lives.

Recently, we have entered a new field with BlueSkeye AI, one of our most recent spin-out companies. It is using mobile technologies and artificial intelligence to develop solutions which identify the physical manifestation of mental health conditions – changes in facial expression, for example – to aid the diagnosis of everything from stress and anxiety to depression.

We believe BlueSkeye AI’s work could deliver profound societal benefits.

These are some of the research-to-commercialisation journeys we are supporting at the moment. They all begin in the same place: collaborating with academics to examine the real-world potential of their research, and supporting the development of business plans and teams which help bring these opportunities to market.

There is no silver bullet. All of these journeys stem from the University’s investment in an environment which enables fundamental research but connects it to commercialisation expertise. We may look a long way ahead but we never lose sight of that starting point.

Spin-out portfolio nets record-breaking return for University of Nottingham

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NOTTINGHAM businesses which began life as research projects earned a return of more than £11 million for the University of Nottingham last year.

The scale of the return has been revealed by Nottingham Technology Ventures (NTV), the organisation which manages the University’s interest in a portfolio of 18 spin-out companies.

These companies have developed a range of advanced products and services for industries which range from agriculture and the environment to healthcare and manufacturing.

The £11m return will be reinvested in supporting the University’s core mission of creating a learning environment which inspires students and carrying out research which leads to transformative discovery.

NTV’s work in managing the portfolio means it plays an important role in helping the University nurture projects that can be commercialised to benefit the local and regional economy through jobs and financial gain, and wider society by developing products and services which address major challenges.

NTV’s team, led by CEO Andrew Naylor, advises on investments the University makes into spin-out companies from two funds. It also supports the progress of those investments and uses its expertise to help build valuable shareholdings and secure a return from them in a way which benefits the businesses and the University.

Andrew Naylor said: “This has been a landmark year for the University’s spin-out portfolio. We’re immensely proud to have played a part in advising on some truly ground-breaking businesses and in helping the University achieve a record return from its shareholdings.

“That return is also a tribute to an expert Intellectual Property Commercialisation Office at the University which has a long track record of identifying the value in research projects, nurturing and developing potential, and bringing transformative products to market.”

NTV and the University have a different approach to more traditional investment funds, combining in-house academic and technical expertise with specialist commercial knowledge which suits the needs of projects which may take time to come to fruition.

Spin-out successes during the year included early cancer detection company Oncimmune, where £5 million was raised from the sale of shares, and cancer research spin-out CrownBio Inc., where the sale of the University’s stake raised £3.6m.

They follow in the footsteps of Monica Healthcare, which developed a foetal heart monitor later acquired by industry giant GE Healthcare.

NTV is based at the University of Nottingham Innovation Park (UNIP), one of the biggest concentrations of research commercialisation in the Midlands. NTV works hand-in-hand with the IP Commercialisation Office to identify and support research projects that have long-term commercial potential.

Professor Dame Jessica Corner, the Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham, said: “Research into the ideas and industries of the future is central to the contribution which the University makes to the world around us, and the professional expertise we have within NTV is vital in helping us to fulfil that mission. “The financial return that has been achieved demonstrates both the sheer scale of innovation being driven by our research teams and our ability to translate that into valuable real-world outcomes.”