A start-up with international aspirations has got off the ground commercially thanks to support from an innovation centre in south Hampshire.
KOIOS, a specialist in industrial master data management, is poised to make inroads in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom looks to digitise its economy.
The firm has its roots in MRO Insyte, which is run by Peter Eales from Fareham Innovation Centre, which has 24 offices and 15 light-manufacturing workshops and is run by Oxford Innovation on behalf of owner Fareham Borough Council.
Last year MRO Insyte, an industrial data management consultancy, won a contract to work with the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources in Saudi Arabia to introduce international data quality standards as part of setting up the National Industrial Information Centre.
Following business support from the innovation centre, KOIOS, which is the ancient Greek word for intelligence, has now been incorporated as a company to provide specialised data interpretation services.
KOIOS gained a life of its own thanks to research and development by interns from the University of Southampton.
Peter said: “There were no tools around to convert all of the various kinds of data MRO Insyte gathered in Saudi Arabia – there was so much data to mine and codify.
“I came back to my shared office at the innovation centre last summer and that coincided with internship presentations by the University of Southampton, organised by Richard May, the centre’s Innovation Director.
“This provided me with an unprecedented opportunity to use the knowledge, intelligence and creative sparks of two interns to build new tools for master data solutions. KOIOS is the happy result.”
Stephen Brownlie, Oxford Innovation’s Solent regional manager, said: “It’s great to see KOIOS take off as a commercial entity following business support, introductions and signposting from our team here at Fareham Innovation Centre.
“Ideas, thoughts, ingenuity and creative ‘sparking’ from university undergraduates and post-graduates have been crystallised into commercial solutions which KOIOS can offer manufacturers in Saudi Arabia, and other manufacturers wishing to trade with companies in the Kingdom.
“Everyone has benefitted from this knowledge, from the university interns themselves, to KOIOS itself, the innovation centre, Britain as an exporter and to the manufacturers that KOIOS will be helping with digital efficiencies for compliance reasons.”
Verbal agreement for work has already given to KOIOS following a meeting with a leading global manufacturer at the EMEA Power Transmission Distributors Association, which is the largest organisation in Europe, the Middle-East and Africa of distributors and manufacturers of power transmission and motion control products.
In a separate development KOIOS was among 18 start-ups showcasing their services and products in high-level pitches, for a cumulative funding ask of £26 million, at the inaugural Venturefest South in March.
Held in March, the interactive one-day event at Winchester Guildhall attracted 575 innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and investors.
Peter said: “Richard May urged me to pitch for funding. It was an interesting experience, standing on stage in an auditorium in front of investors and business analysts, asking for £135,000 for business development for KOIOS. I’m truly glad that I did it, though, and I would never have had this opportunity without Richard’s encouragement.”
As a result of the pitch Peter has secured the investment he requires and a new partner, Simon Towner, who has specific skills in growing software businesses.
A sizeable portion of that investment has come through the help of Richard, who introduced Peter and Simon to Enterprise First, which led them through the process of applying for a Virgin StartUp loan.
There are 43 businesses at award-winning Fareham Innovation Centre, which opened in April 2015 and is fully occupied.
Many of the centre’s occupiers are from the marine, automotive, aerospace and engineering sectors, with dozens of other businesses regularly using drop-in facilities, including hired conference and meeting rooms.
An extension, more than doubling the size of the centre, is scheduled to open in spring 2018, with an additional 33 offices, five workshops and two conference rooms.
Stephen said: “In the same way we are seeing on site now, the extension will enable start-ups, early-stage firms and more established companies to work in a thriving, supportive environment where entrepreneurs can mix with well-regarded peers and business advisors.”
Data mining
Saudi Arabia, keen to wean itself off oil as the main source of income, is looking to industrialise its economy using the international quality data standard to exchange technical specification data without loss of meaning.
In this brave new world there will be no room for incompatible paper documents, ‘dirty’ data and conflicting formats.
Instead, imported goods must have ‘smart’ data files which are in machine-readable XML language and meet the precise requirements of ISO 8000, the international standard for quality data.
Costly import surcharges and potential delays will be imposed on those businesses that do not comply to the new standards.
For manufacturers in the kingdom, having ‘one voice’ data for industrial automations systems and integration will be a key to unlocking the impending ‘Industry 4.0’ and Internet of Things revolution.
