10 Automotive Start-Ups graduate Accelerator Programme
27 November 2025
10 early-stage start-ups and SMEs have graduated from the 8th and final wave of the government’s award-winning Technology Developer Accelerator Programme (TDAP), facilitated by the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC).
Marking their successful completion of the funding and business support programme, the 10 groundbreaking clean mobility businesses presented their innovations to investors, industry experts, and government officials on 26 November 2025 at 30 Euston Square, London.
The event also featured a fireside chat titled ‘Start-ups need ambition to win: Does the UK foster that confidence?’ featuring Ian Constance, CEO, Advanced Propulsion Centre UK; Tim Woolmer, CTO, YASA Motors; Kieran Borrett, Director, Plug and Play UK, and Andrew Whitehead, CEO, Protean Electric.
Two start-ups were recognised for ‘Best Pitch’ – Enough Energy – voted by the audience and for ‘Most Promising Start-Up’ – Polaron – voted by a panel of industry judges including Marcus Henry, JLR, Surakat Kudehinbu, Green Angel Syndicate, Matt Hicks, Fortescue Investment Management, Kieran Borrett, Plug and Play UK, Ian Constance, APC UK, Julian Hetherington APC UK, and Dave Matthews, APC.
Rik Adams, Innovation Delivery Director, APC said:
“These 10 impressive businesses have worked for 18 months, developing their technology concepts, but more importantly, defining their commercial position through our targeted mentoring. They are now ready to engage the market and gain traction, developing their leading-edge products and services for the automotive sector.
This Demo Day is an opportunity to celebrate how far they have come, see their hard work come to fruition, and get them in front of the right stakeholders, from the investment and automotive communities, setting them up for the next step in their journey.
It has been exciting and rewarding to be a part of their journey, and we wish them well in the future.”
Over the 10 years of TDAP, including this latest cohort, businesses that have been through the programme have raised over £443m of private investment and commercial agreements.
The 10 businesses from the 8th wave were chosen from more than 100 applicants, each receiving government grant funding of up to £170,000 and has had access to a bespoke package of support, helping them refine their strategies, accelerate their route to market, and grow.
In January 2025, APC and Zenzic joined forces to launch an enhanced business accelerator –Mobilise.
The programme combines elements of TDAP with the technical validation opportunities provided by Zenzic’s CAM Scale-Up UK initiative through CAM Testbed UK’s extensive network of world-leading testing facilities.
If you would like to be one of the first to hear about when we are looking for our next cohort of businesses, please register your interest by emailing [email protected]
The 10 companies that participated in Wave 8 were:
Battery Minerals mission is to deliver high-value, low-cost, low-footprint minerals extraction, starting with lithium from end-of-life sources. Their flagship technology, lithium-first extraction makes lithium extraction profitable from battery waste materials. The technology is applicable on a small scale, meaning it can be deployed standalone or as a part of a larger recycling operation – making it versatile for all markets globally.
DeepForm is transforming sheet metal pressing with its patented fold-shear press tool design, which reduces blank sizes by up to 45% and trimming waste by up to 85%. This drop-in technology lowers material costs and embodied CO₂ in existing press lines without compromising performance, quality, or speed. Spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2022, DeepForm enables OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to adopt the breakthrough process through IP licensing, simulation, and design support.
Electric Green develops smart wireless charging solutions that enable electric vehicles to charge without plugging in a cable. Electric Green’s technology addresses both the charging infrastructure and the vehicle-side, providing a cost-effective pathway for vehicle manufacturers to factory fit wireless charging. At the core is the innovative ‘1-2-Many’ topology – a charging infrastructure which is cost-effective, bi-directional, and without depot/street clutter. Combined with a multi-purpose On-Board Charger and slimline vehicle coils, the solution simplifies wireless charging integration for OEMs.
Enough Energy is making battery systems more powerful, flexible, and lightweight by reimagining how power is controlled. Leveraging advanced software control, Enough Energy is eliminating the need for restrictive and high-cost hardware for power conversion (including AC-DCs and DC-DCs) within battery systems across a range of applications. Their breakthrough product is an all-in-one battery-integrated EV charger that delivers ultra-rapid EV charging from any location, including power limited sites, with a first-of-its-kind architecture substantially impacting cost, footprint, and weight versus traditional systems.
Generational is a software company that provides rapid, user friendly EV diagnostic solutions, delivering battery health assessments to vehicle retailers, leasing companies, and fleet operators – enabling them to buy and sell used EVs with confidence. Generational also provides performance monitoring for drivers, and its data platform serves stakeholders across the EV lifecycle.
IONETIC is a battery pack technology company, offering a one-stop solution that enables OEMs to develop electric vehicles with optimal economics and performance by reducing battery pack development by up to 10x and tailoring the battery pack design to meet specific customer specifications.
Polaron is the vision intelligence layer for materials science – leveraging microstructural image data and AI to accelerate the characterisation and design of battery materials. Through Polaron’s technology, leading cell teams are rapidly accelerating R&D workflows, unlocking previously inaccessible insights, and optimising manufacturing conditions to improve performance.
Raeon is disrupting the custom battery market by offering a 10x reduction in development cost and lead time for application-optimised, ‘any shape’ batteries. Raeon’s patent-pending technology offers an alternative to the current expensive or impractical options on the market. Aimed at low-medium volume e-mobility applications, the battery construction approach promises compact cell spacing, with the ability to upgrade to the latest cell mid-production cycle, with minimal tooling costs and development lead times.
Tribol Braking brings revolutionary, multi-patented approaches to manufacturing high-performance composite braking components for the automotive sector that are lighter, and last longer. Research-led, Tribol Braking combines cutting-edge materials, science, and manufacturing solutions with focused industrial engagement. Tribol Braking is actively engaged with Motorsport and premium carmakers, paving the way for wider adoption by the mass passenger vehicle market.
TUAL builds and deploys high-power DC chargers where the grid can’t. The battery-integrated, plug-and-play architecture turns any grid-constrained site into a mission-critical charging location in under an hour—no grid upgrade, no civil works. From depots to remote destinations, TUAL deliver sustained high-power and uptime for fleets, megafleets, and critical-response vehicles. Flexible, relocatable, and future-proof, TUAL puts charging control in operators’ hands, regardless of grid limitations.