22nd October 2015

Expert advice from Scinapse® partners GX, Geldards, PwC, and Withers & Rogers

Statistically, start-ups are thriving. If you are starting a business for the first time or looking for support to help you develop a product or a piece of software, you will be gratified by the wealth of supportive networks, specialist groups and organisations that exist to provide advice, share ideas and make valuable contacts.

Whilst every business is different with its own unique set of requirements, the vast majority of start-ups share one thing in common – the need for budget certainty.

Furthermore, in the context of the healthcare, life sciences and technology sectors – if you are in the early stages of developing a product or providing a service – getting your house in order early will further safeguard your future.

Scinapse® has been designed to help you. A collaboration between Geldards, PwC , Withers & Rogers and GX, we offer everything you need to ensure your business is built on solid foundations, under one ‘roof’. Moreover, our range of fixed price professional services is not a mass market “one size fits all” approach but one that is tailored to your particular circumstances.

Every business needs a plan, support and a direction. You will need to make sure you know what your legal and financial obligations are and determine what business structure is best. Moreover, you will need to ensure your ideas – in this context the value underpinning your business – are well protected.

Without doubt, getting a project over the line will take time. However, support from technical designers who have handled projects at every stage of development can make an enormous impact.

Having access to a joined-up service, delivered by seasoned professionals at the top of their game will add real value. Jenna Bowen at Cotton Mouton Diagnostics Limited comments:

“As a spin-out of two Universities the guidance and support we have received from the Scinapse partners has been invaluable in helping us navigate our way through the start-up process and avoid the common pitfalls. All of the teams are pretty much available ‘on tap’ and are more than happy to provide advice as and when needed. Furthermore the fixed fee structure of Scinapse allows you to easily build costs into financial models and helps control budgets.”

Innovation-led “smart” growth is one of the most powerful ways to drive business growth with investment in creating and shaping new markets at the heart of the UK’s economic policy. Scinapse® partners see it as a privilege to work with a wide range of pioneering businesses as they seek new opportunities and plan for their future.

Scinapse partners

Geldards

Geldards is one of the UK’s leading commercial law firms offering a range of services for clients within the healthcare, life sciences and technology sectors.

Geldards’ technical ability and depth of experience working with a diverse range of clients in the healthcare, life sciences and technology sectors means that we stay at the forefront of developments, providing specialist advice on all aspects of intellectual property, research and collaboration agreements, mergers, acquisitions and tax to name but a few.  Geldards’ in-house expertise offers support to start-ups, SMEs through to large multi-national companies.

PwC

PwC is a global network with offices in 157 countries and is one of the largest provider of professional services in the UK.

In Wales PwC has a long history of serving clients with around 300 qualified professionals based in Cardiff and Swansea, supporting clients from start-ups to large corporates throughout the life-cycle of their business. Services include audit and tax services, raising finance, planning for exit, understanding regulatory challenges or providing management accounting and improved management information, with tailored packages to suit the specific requirements of each client.

Withers & Rogers

Withers & Rogers are one of the foremost providers of intellectual property protection services in the UK and Europe, with a Life Sciences & Chemistry group which has a depth of expertise and experience in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as in academic research. Withers & Rogers’s main focus is understanding their clients’ needs and delivering practical advice to help them protect and exploit their intellectual property in a commercial context.

Clients include entrepreneurs, SMEs, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, NHS Trusts, universities and spin-outs.

GX

As a leading technology and innovation company based in Wales, GX designs and develops products using a multidisciplinary and holistic approach. GX offers an extensive range of product development services, industrial, electronics, software, mechanical and low volume manufacture.  The product realisation team at GX works with entrepreneurs and leading medical and scientific companies handling products from conception through to production.

GX are leaders in the field of diagnostic, scientific, medical instrumentation and devices design and development. Our award-winning expertise has made us a forerunner in Design Engineering in the UK.