UKBAA Angel Investment Awards: award sponsor Mathys & Squire deep dive into ‘Scale Up Team of the Year’
The countdown to the UKBAA Angel Investment Awards 2021 is on following the announcement of the finalists across the 11 categories recently. On Tuesday 8th June, the winners will be revealed during our virtual awards ceremony. Intellectual property law firm Mathys & Squire is the sponsor of ‘Scale Up Team of the Year‘, so we spoke to Partners Posy Drywood and Andrew White to find out why they decided to sponsor the award and discuss the work they’ve been doing in the area.
‘Scale Up Team of the Year’ recognises the most active and dynamic entrepreneurial team who, through strong leadership and teamwork, has achieved fast growth and scale of their highly innovative business. Having worked with young rapidly growing businesses, Posy and Andrew felt sponsoring the award was a natural fit for Mathys & Squire.
“I’ve been working with early stage businesses for many years and really enjoy being able to get in early when we can make a real impact. I also enjoy being able to form relationships with young businesses that grow and develop as the business grows. However, the award for ‘Scale Up Team of the Year’ resonated with us because we recently launched our new Scaleup Quarter website that is specifically focused at helping provide early stage growing businesses with IP support and advice. It was a natural fit,” shares Andrew.
Posy adds, “We really enjoy hearing about successful, exciting businesses and their different strategies for growth. Plus, the more we learn, the better we can advise our clients on how to leverage their IP at different stages of growth to maximise value for their company.”
Following the recent announcement of the finalists in the category, what does a business need to have done in order to win ‘Scale Up Team of the Year’? Andrew comments:
“For me, one of the key criteria is that they are innovative – generally meaning that they have a good technology underpinning the business that they are exploiting. As patent attorneys it is our job to dig deep into the nitty-gritty of the technology and we like to see how it is being exploited commercially. For this award we also wanted to see recent growth or ‘scaling up’, as well as hearing about the challenges that the teams had to overcome – whether as a result of Covid or otherwise.”
“We really enjoy hearing about successful, exciting businesses and their different strategies for growth.”
Andrew and Posy work with small businesses to help them develop and implement an IP strategy, in tandem with their business plan to add value and help the business to achieve the outcomes they want. Expanding further Andrew says:
“Often this may mean protecting the IP in a business so that competitors can’t encroach/copy and then supporting valuation of a business at an investment round/exit. But it goes much wider than that and through our experience of working with early stage businesses over the past decade or so we often find ourselves acting as mentors. One of the key considerations we are keen to get across is that IP should be a consideration from the outset so that the right steps are taken at the right time, rather than IP being an afterthought where it can be much costlier, time consuming and sometimes impossible to fix an issue.”
IP, though important, can be expensive so Posy works with her clients to consider a long-term strategy to avoid filing too many costly patent applications too early. She explains:
“We don’t want a client to file too many patent applications too early as they might find themselves in a position where they have significant bills maintaining their portfolio before they have a reliable income stream. Much better is to stagger the approach, so that the more significant costs will arise once a business is ready for them.”
The effect of the pandemic has varied across the businesses Mathys & Squire works with. As with many sectors, some businesses have flourished due to increased demand for their products while others have struggled as demand dropped. Posy also noted that working conditions during the pandemic have hampered some businesses too.
“I work in the chemistry group so some of our clients have struggled to continue their research at the pace they would like due to limiting numbers in the lab and problems with supply chains but, overall, we have been hugely impressed by how our clients have continued to innovate and grow.”
For Andrew, he’s seen businesses seizing the opportunity. “I have seen a lot more innovation from start-up and very early stage businesses in the past year. Personally, I have come across more businesses that have recently set up. We’ve heard that 2021 is going to be the year of entrepreneur, and my anecdotal experience is that is seeming to be the case.”
Highlighting a success story, Posy and Andrew enthuse about Wootzano, a company that has developed highly effective fruit packaging robots. They were doing well before the pandemic but interest in the robots has increased during the last 14 months. Posy adds:
“They’ve just signed a contract worth over £300+ million for their fruit packaging robots, one of the biggest commercial contracts by a British Robotics company for the sales of robotic systems.”
With the pandemic appearing to be nearing its end and restrictions lifting across much of the world, businesses will likely face new challenges as they resume a different kind of normal. Andrew says:
“I think there will be changes that arise as a result of the pandemic and the return to work, and no-one quite knows what these will look like or what it will mean for business. Everyone is going to have to adjust to new ways of working and doing business, and many will have to adjust their business models accordingly. I think many businesses should take the time now to take stock and invest in their businesses, including investing in protecting their IP position.”
For Mathys & Squire, the rest of 2021 offers a chance to reconnect with clients and colleagues on a personal level. Highlighting the importance of face-to-face contact, Posy comments:
“Andrew and I like to work closely with our clients and spend time in their labs and factories, where we can have incidental conversations which help us understand the business. The more we understand about a client’s needs, aspirations and struggles, the better we can advise them on protecting their IP.”
Find out more about Mathys & Squire at https://www.mathys-squire.com
Find out more about the UKBAA Angel Investment Awards and book your ticket at https://awards.ukbaa.org.uk/book-tickets/
