WhiteBox Systems Andrew Reece wins Young Innovator in West Midlands region

An Innovator from the West Midlands has been awarded a further boost to their early-stage business by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, through the Young Innovators Next Steps Awards. In recognition of his success with their initial Young Innovators Award this aspiring entrepreneur has won fresh investment to support their future business plans.

Coinciding with the announcement, Innovate UK is launching its biggest and most ambitious programme to tackle underrepresentation in innovation to date, the Diverse Innovators Award. This brand-new programme builds upon the success of the Young Innovators awards. Backed by a £6m budget, it will allow Innovate UK to support even more young entrepreneurs, women founders and other communities who are underrepresented in innovation.

Since winning their first Innovate UK award, the winners have secured further funding from investors, launched products and expanded their teams. They’ve also been recognised with prestigious industry awards and have showcased their work to large audiences within their sectors. With a focus on helping young people take their innovations to the next level, the Young Innovators Next Steps Awards will see each winner receive an additional £50,000 to fuel their growth plans.

The winner from the West Midlands is Andrew Reece (29) from Worcester, West Midlands is the creator of WhiteBox Systems – a tool that simplifies and accelerates software development. WhiteBox compiles, runs and debugs code as it is written, providing programmers with near instant feedback and helping them to catch bugs as they arise. Since winning the first Award, Andrew has grown his team to accelerate the development of the technology.

Commenting on his Award and project, Andrew said: “Being a solo founder on a highly technical product had been quite an isolating experience, as I didn’t have much opportunity to discuss the details of company and software development. The Innovate UK Young Innovators Award helped me greatly with this, through the business mentorship and the funding to bring on new team members. The Young Innovators Next Steps Award will allow us to refine and improve the technology behind WhiteBox.”

The inspirational Next Steps award winners are motivated by a passion for making the world more sustainable and inclusive, while driving the UK’s economy with their innovative and ambitious business ideas.

Other winning ideas include a sustainable drinkware brand producing unique reusable bottles that can be dismantled for cleaning; an online platform that demystifies and streamlines the home buying process, and cutting-edge micro-turbines that allow the water industry to sustainably monitor pipelines.

Upcoming entrepreneurs can learn more and register their interest in the forthcoming Diverse Innovators Awards, which open on 10 July: https://bit.ly/DiverseInnovatorsNS

Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Innovate UK said:

“Innovate UK is committed to inspiring and supporting the next generation of innovators, as they will play a critical role in the UK’s future economy. The team congratulates the Young Innovators Next Step award winners and looks forward to seeing their businesses develop further.”