International innovation committed to equal opportunities

In this episode we are joined by Lavinia Malo, Innovation consultant at DRIAD

DRIAD was founded in 2014 in Leeds by Dr Vivien Badaut. A former academic researcher, Vivien started working in 2013 as a freelance technical expert for grant funding consultancies in Paris (France). Following a move to the UK, DRIAD was launched in June 2014 as a bid-writing service targetting mostly French start-ups. The DRIAD team would create impactful applications for different French grants and loans. DRIAD’s services quickly expanded to encompass applications for European grants. This initial work supporting over a hundred of the most prominent French start-ups allowed them to build a comprehensive understanding of how VC-backed start-ups work, and gain strong technology expertise across the board.

In 2018, conversations with fellow founders brought Driad to identify an unmet need for support from British technology start-ups and SMEs. DRIAD then integrated the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator program to structure this new offer of service, which was recognised when the company was shortlisted in 2019’s Digital Enterprise Top 100.

DRIAD now delivers long-term, strategic innovation support to technology start-ups and scale-ups. They are innovation enablers: their grant-writing services are embedded in their comprehensive strategic and operational support to accompany you, your team and your business towards shaping your ideas into actionable projects and optimising your resources