LEAMINGTON-BASED PANIVOX SECURES £500K INVESTMENT

Panivox, the Leamington Spa company behind the RichCast next-generation media platform has been awarded a £500,000, SMART Grant from Innovate UK, the Government’s innovation agency.

RichCast has been developed by video games industry veterans Neil Campbell and twins Andrew and Philip Oliver.

It promises to open a new world of usergenerated media experiences, called Titles, ranging from interactive adventures and games to stories and learning tools.

The platform’s “NoCode” approach allows creators – including writers, gamers, podcasters and YouTubers – to make, own, distribute and monetise content that players can stream through a single app across multiple devices.

The main interface for controlling Titles is voice recognition. Players can talk to the ‘in-game’ characters, who can understand and respond, allowing conversations as part of an immersive storytelling experience.

The Innovate UK grant will support Panivox, in collaboration with Staffordshire University, to research and develop new features and experiences to showcase RichCast’s use in education and serious games, alongside building a global community of creators, players and commercial partners.

Panivox CEO Philip Oliver said: “Being awarded a SMART Grant by Innovate UK is not only a ringing endorsement of all the hard work the team at Panivox has poured into creating RichCast, but will also enable us to further develop the platform and add features that extend its use into serious games and education.

Staffordshire University Project Lead Luke Haslett said: “This funded project has two distinct aims. Firstly, we’ll be working with their innovative RichCast software to teach our first-year students, getting them used to industry-standard games development and publishing the games they create which will help to build their portfolios.

“We will also be employing a researcher to see how we can have public impact with this technology in Education and Serious Games in areas such as culture, healthcare and climate change.”

Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western said: “I was blown away by the technology behind Panivox’s pitch. I’m thrilled by the prospect that this sort of pioneering innovation could be born in Leamington.”

West Midlands’ Made Smarter scheme wins innovation award

Made Smarter, a West Midlands scheme which supports manufacturing and engineering firms upgrade their technology to boost productivity was among the winners at the Innovation Awards.

The programme won the “Engineering Innovation Champion – Organisation Sector” at a ceremony held in Birmingham.

Craig Humphrey, Managing Director of CWLEP Growth Hub, said: “The success of Made Smarter since it launched in our region has surpassed all expectations and this award win is testament to that.

“Our Digital Transformation Experts have done brilliantly in reaching out to businesses, giving them advice suitable to their needs, and helping them access the capital they need to implement improvements.”

Launched in the West Midlands in 2021, Made Smarter has advised more than 200 businesses on productivity improvements through technology uptake, generating millions in GVA.

Originally intended to run for one year, the scheme has been successful enough to see the government renew it for another three years.

Paul Sullivan, Digital Transformation Expert at Made Smarter, added: “Many of the businesses we have visited over the months were either unaware of what tools were out there to help boost their productivity, or knew what they needed but did not have the funds available.

“It’s been a real pleasure to visit these businesses and watch them flourish once they’ve adopted the new technology.”

Vistry buys former Kenilworth conference centre

The former Woodside Hotel and Conference Centre in Kenilworth has been sold to national housebuilder Vistry Group (formerly Bovis Homes).

Land, development and property agency Newton LDP has completed the sale of the property at Glasshouse Lane on behalf of Archel Homes for an undisclosed sum.

Vistry Group is reportedly set to build 620 homes on the adjacent land.