Fast Forward

Throughout our history, Slaughter and May has both supported and practised entrepreneurialism and innovation. Fast Forward is our emerging tech incubation programme which supports the work of technology entrepreneurs and innovators. Through the programme we share our market-leading expertise with a new generation of tech entrepreneurs and innovators, whose businesses have the potential to deliver meaningful improvements or increased competition across a broad range of business sectors.

Fast Forward: Greenhouse Edition

For the sixth edition of Fast Forward, we are delighted to be partnering once again with Undaunted, an initiative of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London and the Royal Institution, for a second series of our Fast Forward: Greenhouse Edition. This is the second edition that focuses on companies that are developing innovative solutions to address issues caused by climate change and working towards a more sustainable future.

The businesses in the new cohort are:

Deploy Tech

Deploy Tech are making the implementation of water storage as convenient as never before. In the agricultural sector including livestock farming, arable farming, garden centres and others, the better use and adequate management of water resources are key to address the climate change challenges that the UK and the rest of the world are facing. Deploy’s aim is to put an end to these challenges using their innovative technology in water storage tanks.

DyeRecycle

DyeRecycle’s technology addresses chemical circularity in the fashion and textile industry and aims to solve two of the greatest challenges facing the industry: dye pollution and textile waste. They are turning to sustainable green chemistry to close the loop for dyes in the textile industry while also enabling fibre circularity. They are extending the service life of dyestuff to colour a new garment by using textile waste as an untapped feedstock for dyes and colours.

Olsights

Olsights is seeking to accelerate the energy transition by expediting decision-making and access to project insights. They have created a global web app - ‘The Olsights Eye’ - that uses intuitive visualisations to simplify understanding of the rapidly-changing energy transition landscape. Their digital engineering approach accelerates early-stage project screening, mapping global supply & demand, and accessing unbiased integrated insights for renewables, hydrogen, CCUS, power and national policies.

Kooling Technologies

Kooling Technologies is a Big Data SaaS platform that powers the sustainability ambitions of businesses, institutions and cities, focusing on the single largest source of emissions - mobility & transport. The Kooling platform brings unprecedented automation on measurement, regulatory reporting capabilities and people education & engagement at large scale. To do so Kooling leverages a proprietary, patent-pending sensor data analysis technology and gamification.

Mana Biosystems

Mana Biosystems farms the Black Soldier fly on organic waste sources as a sustainable source of protein for animal feed.  Mana’s vision is to feed the growing population, sustainably. The mission is to enable insect farming for anyone, anywhere in the world, by developing containerised vertical insect farms.

Eligibility

There is no minimum size/shape/age/financial position for acceptance into our Fast Forward programme. We will be focussed primarily on the strength, uniqueness and promise of the concept and the team.

The programme is aimed at early‑ and mid-stage ventures rather than established businesses but applications will be accepted from newly-formed businesses through to the pre‑IPO/exit stage.

Our Fast Forward programme offers participants up to 100 hours of value add services including:

Legal Support

Support from our Emerging Tech and Fintech Team’s legal experts in technology, financial services, intellectual property, data, employment, competition and company law.

Model documents

Access to model legal documents – including non‑disclosure agreements, employment contracts and intellectual property transfers.

Introductions

Introductions and networking opportunities through Slaughter and May’s existing networks and Fast Forward’s consultative panel of leading industry and legal professionals.

Coaching

Tailored individual coaching and development sessions in crucial areas such as pitching, presentations, people management, communications and negotiation.

How valuable is the advice companies receive in the Fast Forward programme?

Shefali Roy, COO of API provider TrueLayer, which helps companies simplify the open banking market, explains why Fast Forward helped make a difference to the organisation. This video was filmed when we caught up with TrueLayer earlier this year.

How does Fast Forward help start-up companies grow?

James Blackham, co-founder of By Miles, which aims to provide fairer car insurance for lower mileage drivers, explains how being part of Fast Forward’s first cohort helped the company take off. This video was filmed when we caught up with By Miles earlier this year.

Slaughter and May is committed to supporting the start-up community during this challenging time through its Fast Forward programme.

What kind of growth do companies involved in Fast Forward see?

Phil Davies, co-founder of revolutionary e-commerce delivery system Magway, explains how Fast Forward helped his organisation grow. This video was filmed when we caught up with Magway earlier this year.