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Graphene spin-out reaches Innovator of the Year Awards final

27 Oct 2023

Graphene Innovations Manchester Ltd, founded by Dr Vivek Koncherry, has reached the final of The Spectator’s prestigious Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, in partnership with Investec

Spectator Awards 2023

The awards celebrate the shining talents of British entrepreneurship and are widely recognised in business and investment communities throughout the UK, having attracted growing numbers of entries year by year. The winners will be announced on 9 November at a ceremony in London.

  • Listen to a podcast hosted by The Spectator's business editor discussing the finalists in the manufacturing and engineering category (Manchester mentioned approx. 28mins)

Graphene Innovations Manchester Ltd

Graphene Innovations Manchester Ltd design graphene-based compounds and production systemsthat allow partners to commercialise graphene-enhanced products at scale, unlocking competitive advantage, sustainability, and cost reduction. Their innovative work developing graphene-enhanced concrete could help improve sustainability in the construction industry - concrete production contributes 8% of global CO2 emissions and carbon taxes are steadily increasing construction industry costs. GIM Concrete is a combination of graphene, polymers and additives, and the manufacturing process eliminates 88% of CO2 emissions because no cement is used. It also uses no water, achieves 4X the compression strength of traditional concrete, is 30% lighter and cures in 2 – 4 hours with no heat compared to 28 days for traditional concrete.

In addition, the company has developed a sustainable waste upcycling platform that uses graphene as an additive to ground waste tyres, and plastics, that can be molded using traditional manufacturing processes to create high-quality, durable products that optimize both performance and sustainability.

Graphene Innovations Manchester Ltd was founded by alumnus Dr Vivek Koncherry and their R&D centre is based in our Graphene Engineering Innovations Centre (GEIC).

What is graphene, and its link to Manchester?

If you've ever drawn with a pencil, you've probably made graphene without even noticing. Although scientists knew one atom thick, two-dimensional crystal graphene existed, no-one had worked out how to extract it from graphite. That was until it was isolated in 2004 by two researchers at Manchester: Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov. Their discovery won them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their pioneering work.