10 companies could win £10,000 cash each to turn their technology idea into reality.

Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in the East Midlands will be able to apply for technology funding from a £100,000 pot of money thanks to a new business competition.

EMNET, a leading internet solutions provider based in East Midlands, is looking to find ten of the most forward thinking and innovative companies to apply.

The competition, called ANUBIS 2, is open to any East Midlands business with up to 250 employees that can demonstrate how they would benefit from a massive technology injection. 

Each will be in the running for £10,000 cash. Tim Miller, managing director of EMNET, is keen for companies to apply.  He said, “Technology is part of the life blood of a business and a critical factor for success.  Quite often SMEs do not have the time or resources to create a technological step change on their own.  We are trying to find East Midlands companies that have a great technology idea which this competition can turn into reality.”

Northants company HumanWare, an equipment supplier for people with visual disabilities, was one of last year’s competition winners.  It used the £10,000 to invest in new IT hardware and software, to help train customers and staff.  Its pioneering use of video telephony on the internet has seen its turnover for two products for visually impaired and blind people increase by over 30 per cent.

Without the funding, the company believes it would have taken up to three years to make the IT project happen on its own.  Chris Withers Green, CFO for Europe HumanWare, said, “Our project was simple in nature but very ambitious. This was a successful investment financially and has made communication easier.  It has also driven us closer to our customers and understanding their needs.” 

Another winner was Guidance Monitoring.  The company, which is based just off junction 21 of the M1 at Meridian Business Park, used the competition money to help develop a mobile system for monitoring tagged offenders.  The system is linked to the internet and can provide live updates.  It has also created new hardware and software for PDAs (personal data assistants) which makes it easier for officers to use. In the year 2005/2006, the company recruited nine new employees and sales increased by nearly a third to £4.6 million.

Group finance director, Robert Ashby, said, “We would not have achieved this project in the timeframe without the ANUBIS project.  We can now trial the new equipment in the early part of 2007. 

It has also opened up new export business opportunities.”Millitec Food Systems, which is based in Old Dalby, has launched a new company on the back of the innovation success which the ANUBIS funding brought.  The company developed an innovative software system which enabled the manufacturing process to be integrated into the office computer systems in real time. The success of the innovation meant Millitec took the software system to market six months earlier than anticipated. 

The business, which originally specialised in the design and manufacture of automated machinery for the food production industry, has formed a new company called Solworks which is focused on the marketing and delivery of this system.

Richard Ledger, managing director at Millitec said, “The funding took us to a position where the projected turnover for the new company is pushing £1 million in its second year of trading.  We hope to recruit new staff to manage this growth.   I would strongly recommend any innovative company to participate in the ANUBIS II competition.”

The ANUBIS project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and East Midlands Development Agency (emda).Clare Tatham, project manager at emda, said, “The commercial success created by last year’s winners really proves the value of this business competition.  It also shows the importance of technology in improving the performance of the region’s SMEs.

"Encouraging growing and innovative businesses to maximise their use of IT in this way is one of our key objectives in creating a flourishing East Midlands economy,” she added.

Companies have until April to apply for ANUBIS funding.  A shortlist will then be drawn up and a judging panel will chose the final 10 winners.  The judges are keen to receive applications from a cross section of industries ranging from traditional industries such as textiles, print, construction and agriculture, to creative industries such as media and hi-tech business.

Anyone interested in entering the ANUBIS competition should email anubis@emnet.co.uk for an application form and further details or visit www.anubisproject.co.uk.