Daniel Sutherland - NESTA award winner
Gray's School of Art graduate, Daniel Sutherland has been awarded £10,000 from NESTA as part the Starter for 6 Initiative and £1000 by Shell LiveWIRE's ‘Grand Ideas' programme. The funding will be used to help develop a prototype of his innovative baby bottle design which makes the feeding process easier by speeding up the heating or cooling process of the feeding liquid.
Originally from Tain in Ross-shire, 29 year old Daniel Sutherland's ‘eureka' moment came to him when his own daughter began to be weaned off breastfeeding and onto bottle feeding. He realised that there was a need to soften the transition from one to the other for both the baby and the parents.
Specific details of Daniel's design are currently under wraps just now as it progresses through the patenting process. As well as the funding from NESTA, Daniel is also receiving a tailored business support package including enterprise training, peer mentoring and is working with them, and their partners, to put a business model in place. Daniel commented on his recent success: "The funds will be used for prototyping, patent costs and marketing. A very big step for the development of the product and a fabulous opportunity."
NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts - a unique and independent body with a mission to make the UK more innovative. Starter for 6 is an enterprise training programme that supports up-and-coming creative entrepreneurs across Scotland. www.nesta.org.uk
Shell LiveWIRE is a premier source of free information and advice for young people interested in starting a business in the UK. www.shell-livewire.org