Board games and fishing bait among innovations in latest Teesside Uni FUEL cohort

A North East startup programme offering thousands of pounds’ worth of support for early-stage businesses has announced a new cohort of entrepreneurs.

Teesside University’s eight-week Launchpad FUEL programme has taken on 10 new ventures and awarded them £36k in funding.

The participating startups include Squish Baits, a manufacturer of single-hook fishing lures; Wander Films, a social media video content production business; Mega Sloth, creators of Mexican-themed game Choreo; Lardello, a board game micro-manufacturer; and SPARC, an interior design company with VR functionality.

Also accepted on the latest cohort are The Way We Roll, a weekly Dungeons and Dragons show on YouTube; Comics for Couples, a comic book product providing a customer’s life story in comic book format; Simply Divine Parties, a children’s entertainment venture; Gamesby, a fashion designer and dressmaker; and TheFACTORY, which provides rapid garment prototyping for the fashion industry.

Launchpad FUEL is open to students and graduates Teesside University who are in the early stages of developing a business idea.

FUEL companies also have access to office space for six months at Teesside Launchpad and a support package that includes specialist mentoring, workshops, networking and finance support.

Steve Dougan, the university’s head of enterprise, said: “Programmes such as FUEL help to contribute to the success of our graduate enterprises.

“While funding is important to early-stage businesses, what is equally as important is the access to advice and mentoring they get from experienced business leaders, as well as from their peers on the FUEL programme.”

He added: “This is the third cohort of FUEL and once again I am struck by the extremely high levels of innovation and dedication which our graduate entrepreneurs possess.”