TEP is home to innovative, forward-thinking companies helping to shape the future of clean technology. But as critical infrastructure becomes more complex and demanding, the challenge isn’t simply how we build it – it’s how we keep it operating safely and efficiently.
Innvotek is tackling that challenge through robotic technologies designed to take on some of industry’s most “dull, dirty and dangerous” jobs. Working across sectors including offshore wind, shipping and oil and gas, the company is developing new ways to inspect and maintain critical infrastructure while reducing the risks faced by people on the job.
Robotics for Challenging Environments
Innvotek has developed more than 20 robotic technologies for demanding industrial applications, combining robotics, sensing, automation and digital engineering to improve safety, reduce downtime and give operators greater insight into the condition of their assets.
At the centre of its current plans is Amphibian, a robotic platform designed for remote operations across offshore and marine environments. Able to move across curved steel structures, operate underwater at depths of up to 60 metres and carry inspection and tooling payloads of more than 25kg, Amphibian is built to carry out complex inspection and maintenance tasks across demanding environments.
In shipping, for example, the platform is being developed for tasks including underwater surveys of ship hulls and ballast tanks without the need for dry-docking, alongside robotic hull cleaning. Equipped with cameras, cleaning tools and non-destructive testing equipment, Amphibian could enable more of this work to be completed while vessels remain in service, reducing reliance on divers and minimising costly downtime.
Taking Innovation to Market
For Innvotek, the focus is now increasingly shifting from research and development towards commercialisation.
Founder and CEO Shahid Mughal describes the business at being a pivotal stage, with the next challenge being turning proven technology into a scalable commercial proposition. That transition has also been supported through Innvotek’s participation in the Manufacturing Technology Centre’s AURA programme, which supports promising robotics businesses as they develop products and move closer to commercial deployment.
Over the next 12-14 months, Innvotek’s priority is investment. The business is seeking around £2 million in pre-seed funding to support its scale-up plans, while strengthening its financial models, investor proposition and route to markets.
Growing at TEP Birmingham
Innvotek joined TEP Birmingham in 2024 and has been growing its on-site presence ever since. For the team, one of the key benefits has been having a base that understands the practical realities of developing physical technology, from the space needed for testing and demonstrations to the flexibility required as the business grows.
The wider TEP community is also becoming increasingly important part of that experience. Networking events and day-to-day connections across the site are creating new conversations with businesses at similar stages of growth, as well as potential opportunities for future collaboration.
With commercialisation now firmly in focus, Innvotek’s next challenge is turning its robotics capability into scalable solutions for some of industry ‘s-hardest-to-reach environments.
“The team at TEP really understands the journey from R&D through to commercialisation, and what businesses need at each stage. The facilities have given us the space and flexibility to grow, while the wider TEP community is creating valuable opportunities for collaboration, partnerships and shared insight. That sense of being part of a wider network is what Innvotek values most about being based here”
Shahid Mughal, CEO at Innvotek
