Our companies
Have a browse at the companies based at The Catalyst Newcastle.
Home | National Innovation Centre for Data
The National Innovation Centre for Data (NICD) was created in 2019 with funding from the UK government and Newcastle University. Based in the state-of-the-art Helix science district in Newcastle, their mission is to transfer data skills to the UK workforce. Their team of PhD and Masters-level data scientists work to ensure that organisations across the country are equipped to reap the benefits of the global data-driven revolution. They empower organisations across all sectors to harness the power of data for innovation and growth. NICD is a hub for collaboration between businesses and research specialists.
NICD supports a wide range of organisations:
- Public Sector: Helping improve efficiency through data.
- Voluntary Sector: Assisting charities in maximising data benefits.
- SMEs: Enabling small and medium enterprises to grow through data-driven strategies.
- Large Corporations: Transferring advanced data expertise to major UK businesses.
What They Offer
- Data Exploration: Providing insights using cutting-edge tools and software.
- Efficiency Improvements: Training teams in analytics to streamline operations.
- Product & Service Innovation: Understanding customer needs to drive business growth.
Ageing Innovation & Consultancy – Ageing Intelligence – National Innovation Centre Ageing
NICA are a world-leading organisation who aim to help co-develop and bring to market products and services which create a world in which we all live better, for longer. They bring together cross-competence professionals and researchers, commercialisation experts, scientists, innovators, and technologists working closely together with the public in a seamless way, exchanging their intelligence.
They are focused on ageing and longevity innovation. It helps businesses and institutions harness opportunities in the longevity economy by combining:
- Human experience
- Ethics
- Data
- Emerging technologies
- Innovative business models
Core Concept: Ageing Intelligence®
This is their proprietary, data-driven approach that blends:
- Human-centric design
- Behavioural and market data
- Global research and best practices
- Real-world testing and insights
They use this to support organisations in navigating demographic shifts and creating impactful ageing-related innovations.
SPARK EPoS – Smart Hospitality Solutions
SPARK EPoS provides smart, integrated technology solutions for the hospitality industry, helping businesses streamline operations and enhance customer experience.
Core Offerings
- EPoS Systems: Intuitive, sleek point-of-sale technology designed to help hospitality businesses compete with larger chains.
- SPARK Pay: A portable card reader allowing flexible payment options, including bill splitting.
- Kiosks: Self-service payment stations that improve customer convenience and reduce service time.
- KDS (Kitchen Display Systems): Seamlessly integrated with other systems for efficient kitchen operations.
- Mobile Ordering, CRM, Reservations, Stock Management: All part of their all-in-one cloud-based platform.
Robotics Solutions
SPARK also offers a range of service robots tailored for hospitality environments:
- Service Robots: Enhance customer service in restaurants and hotels.
- Cleaning Robots: Designed for efficient cleaning in various settings.
- Hotel Robots: Capable of operating lifts, navigating corridors, and assisting guests.
Life Science Marketing | Commercial Impact | ramarketing
ramarketing is a full-service marketing agency that specialises in helping life science companies grow across every phase of their business evolution. They combine industry expertise, commercial strategy, and creative execution to deliver measurable results.
- Strategy: Precision-driven approaches to fuel business growth and brand value.
- Digital, PR & Media: Multi-channel campaigns to boost visibility and credibility.
- Creative Services: Branding and content that captivates and converts.
- Customer Experience & Insights: Data-powered insights to enhance customer journeys and ROI.
They work with a wide range of life science organizations, including:
- CDMOs (Contract Development & Manufacturing Organizations)
- CROs (Clinical Research Organizations)
- Biotech companies
- Pharma supply chain & logistics firms
- Medical device companies
- Private equity & investors
- Cleanroom and packaging tech providers
Grid Smarter Cities is a company that develops sustainable digital products focused on improving the management of kerbside and freight logistics in urban areas.
What They Do
- Their flagship product, Kerb® Delivery, is a data-driven digital platform that optimizes kerb space usage.
- It serves both:
- Kerb Owners (e.g. local authorities)
- Kerb Users (e.g. freight and logistics operators)
Mission
They aim to create smarter, more sustainable cities by helping local authorities and logistics providers solve kerbside challenges through innovative technology.
About Circadacare | Independent living technology
Circadacare delivers innovative AI monitoring and circadian lighting solutions that transform care delivery, reduce falls, and improve resident well-being in care homes and healthcare facilities. Our smart technology helps care providers enhance quality of care while optimising operational efficiency.
Transforming Care Through Smart Technology
Founded in 2020, Circadacare combines cutting-edge monitoring technology with evidence-based circadian lighting to revolutionise care delivery. Their solutions help care homes reduce costs, improve resident outcomes, and streamline operations through intelligent automation and data-drive insights.
Their technology combines proven circadian lighting with advanced monitoring capabilities to create comprehensive care solutions that are:
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Intelligent: Learning individual patterns to provide meaningful insights
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Integrated: Supporting both professional and family caregivers through a unified platform
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Impactful: Delivering measurable improvements in care outcomes
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Intuitive: Designed for easy implementation and use across all care settings
Credera is a global, boutique consulting firm offering a unique consulting model for a changing world that combines business transformation capabilities with deep technology expertise to accelerate growth and build valuable customer experiences. They cover a wide range of consultancy-based services in areas such as:
- Data
- Ecommerce
- Experience Design
- Artificial Intelligence
- Innovation
- MarTech
- Cloud & Engineering
- Management Consultancy
They also utilise expertise in a wide range of industries such as:
- Consumer
- Energy & Utilities
- Healthcare & LifeSciences
- Financial services & insurance
- Technology, media & telecommunications
- Public Sector
RTC North is a business support organisation focused on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) innovate, compete, and grow. They operate across the North East, North West, and Yorkshire & Humber, delivering economic and social impact through tailored services and programmes.
- Business Strategy – a team of coaches and consultants that provide techniques to allow companies to drive short and long term goals. “
- Operational Improvement – Focused on increasing quality and profitability, whilst reducing costs, all through operational performance.
- Innovation – designed to help customers understand the changing market place and customers needs.
- Internationalisation – Designed to help businesses find partners in new territories and new markets through joint ventures, subsidiaries, merges and acquisitions.
- People Development – Training providers through both accredited and non-accredited programmes to upskill staff and improve through internal development.
Impact Highlights
- Contributed £2.57 billion+ to the Northern economy.
- Raised £500 million+ in funding.
- Supported 30,000+ small businesses.
- Helped develop 2,000+ innovative products/services.
- Facilitated the creation of 10,000+ jobs.
- Engaged 1.2 million+ students, with 76,000 annually in STEM initiatives.
RevLifter – Intelligent eCommerce offers
RevLifter is a marketing technology company that helps eCommerce retailers increase conversions and average order value through personalised, data-driven promotions. Their platform uses real-time data and AI to optimise offers, target customers effectively, and analyse behaviour across the shopping funnel. Trusted by brands like Harvey Nichols, boohoo, and Radley London, RevLifter enables smarter promotions that protect margins and drive measurable results.
What They Offer
- Intelligent Offers Platform: Uses real-time data to create targeted promotions that drive conversions and protect margins.
- AI-Powered Optimisation: Tracks user behaviour and cart contents to analyse and improve offer effectiveness.
- Customer Journey Insights: Helps retailers understand audience behaviour and tailor promotions accordingly.
Key Benefits
- Increase conversion rates and average order value (AOV)
- Reduce unnecessary discounting
- Deliver personalised experiences across the customer funnel
CPI is a UK-based deep tech innovation partner that helps organisations turn ideas into market-ready products. They specialise in supporting innovation across sectors like:
- Bioprocessing
- MedTech
- Sustainable materials
- Pharmaceuticals
What They Offer
- Scale-up support: Defer capital and workforce investments until your product is proven.
- Expert guidance: Access multidisciplinary teams and a network of investors and partners.
- World-class facilities: Use specialist labs for R&D and process development.
- Flexible collaboration: Tailored projects and services to suit your needs.
VRAI Simulation | Virtual reality training
VRAI, Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence. Offering VR training simulation solutions to companies in varying markets, who require more specific training programmes. Some of the sectors include, offshore wind farming, search and rescue teams, defence and security (armoured vehicle training). They harness data from VR training systems to improve and better align with the goals of the relevant companies.
- Winching Simulator – for search and rescue crew’s offering ‘practice by doing’
- REVOLUTION – VR simulation solution for offshore wind farming
- ReACT – armour crew simulator increasing training & repetition opportunities for armour crews in OEM’s & front line commands in defence and security
- HEAT – capture data, store data, analyse the data, create actionable insights to re-align training
Biological Age Test – Discover Your Biological Age | GlycanAge
GlycanAge is a science-backed wellness company that offers a biological age testing service designed to help individuals understand and improve their health span.
GlycanAge measures your biological age—which may differ from your chronological age—by analysing chronic inflammation in your body. This is done through a simple at-home blood test.
Why It Matters
- Helps you track the impact of lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, sleep, etc.) on your biological age.
- Supports biohackers, wellness enthusiasts, and those managing menopause.
- Based on 30+ years of research and over 200,000 tests.
- Results are used to personalise health strategies and optimise longevity.
Home – NIHR Innovation Observatory
NIHR Innovation Observatory, is a world-leading health and care innovation scanning centre. They are the home of health innovation futures scanning. Their mission is to transform health systems and improve population health by delivering advanced data-driven insights that both foster innovation and promote equitable access to high-quality care.
Their core functions include;
- Horizon Scanning: Identifying emerging innovations in health and care.
- Data-Driven Insights: Using analytics to support decision-making and policy.
- Support for Innovation: Helping stakeholders navigate and adopt new technologies and practices
They categorise healthcare technologies into three horizons:
- Emerging Horizon – Where new ideas originate and begin evolving.
- Transitional Horizon – Technologies moving from early clinical trials to pre-regulatory stages.
- Imminent Horizon – Technologies that are launched or undergoing regulatory and appraisal processes.
TREAT-NMD is a global network of experts in the neuromuscular field that brings together a network of leading specialists, patient groups and industry representatives. Coordinated by a diverse team based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, TREAT-NMD aims to ensure preparedness for the trials and therapies of the future while also promoting best practice today within the neuromuscular community.
Some already key partnerships and collaborations include:
- Pfizer
- Astellas Gene Therapies
- PTC Therapeutics
- Aparito
- Roche
- Sarepta Therapeutics
- Newcastle University
- LUMC
IOTech Systems | The Open Edge Data Platform
The leader in open edge computing, IOTech solves the industrial data problem at the edge. Their modular and flexible plug-and-play, open-edge distributed computing data platform and edge management software toolset greatly reduce the time-to-value equation and protect software investment beyond the hardware lifecycle.
IOTech Edge Central makes industrial data easily accessible, actionable, and manageable and is the most comprehensive foundational software solution for the edge.
Main Product:
- IOTech Edge Central
Red Hat – We make open source technologies for the enterprise
Red Hat delivers hardened, open source solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge. By operating transparently and responsibly, they continue to be a catalyst in open source communities, helping you build flexible, powerful IT infrastructure solutions.
Portfolio of products includes:
- Hybrid cloud infrastructure
- Middleware
- Agile integration
- Cloud-native application development
- Management & automation solutions
They are the leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions.
National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise | NICRE
NICRE put knowledge to work for an enterprising countryside. Combining research with practical innovation to find new ways of unlocking potential and supporting thriving rural businesses and communities. They work with a variety of stakeholders to find new ways of unlocking potential and supporting rural businesses and communities, from community groups to business support organisations, local enterprise agencies to all layers of government.
Key Activities
- Research & Insight: Conducts studies on rural innovation, enterprise, and policy.
- Projects: Works on initiatives like:
- Rural Community Energy – exploring sustainable energy solutions.
- Community Spaces Partnership
- Rural Climathons – innovation events focused on climate challenges.
- Innovation Portal: A hub for sharing rural innovations and best practices.
Target Groups
- Rural businesses
- Community and voluntary organisations
- Government policymakers
- Researchers and academics
Spectrum | Transforming the way you work
Spectrum is a UK-based company with over 40 years of experience helping organisations improve their business and print processes. They specialise in automated business management and print solutions that streamline operations and boost efficiency. Their mission? To empower businesses by giving them full control over their documents, data, and information, enabling maximum productivity.
Core Offerings
- Managed Print Services
- Information Management
- Office Technology Solutions
- Unified Communications & IT Support (via The One Point)
- Tailored solutions through two divisions:
- Spectrum Print
- Spectrum Digital
Jumping Rivers is an analytics company whose passion is data and machine learning. They help their clients move from data storage to data insights.
Based in Newcastle Upon Tyne and founded in 2016, Jumping Rivers has delivered quality data insights from day one. The company is bringing a fresh approach to the world of data analytics. Their trainers and consultants come with over 40 years combined experience and have worked with some of the largest (and smallest) companies in the world.
They provide conferences for insights into data analytics and as an attempt to drum up further business. They cover different areas of;
- Training – training courses provided by JR such as coding, system introduction, programming, etc.
- Posit – Posit Partnership allowing JR to install, support and maintain Posit. Posit is a system that allows companies to deploy open-source data science work across their organisations safely and securely.
- Data Science – Use the data companies collect and help them streamline their systems, processes and services.
- Data Engineering – Engineers dedicated to securing companies’ data collection and developing data processes for more streamlined work.
Urban Foresight – smart cities and sustainable places
Urban Foresight is a place-based innovation consultancy, advising “smart cities” in advancements in transportation, energy, healthcare, and environmental services. They cover the full range of innovation and infrastructure consultancy from initial research to business support.
They cover:
- Research and analysis – markets, opportunities, and the impact of investments.
- Strategies and business cases – outlooks, action plans, and commercial frameworks for positive change.
- Project development and delivery – designing, procurement and funding for innovation projects.
- Pilots and living labs – managing the testing and development of new solutions and services.
- Networks and business support – knowledge sharing networks and business support programmes.
- Evaluations – establishing the effectiveness, outcomes and learning from projects.
