Major contract win for Big Nasty

22 February 2018

A tech start-up founded by 海角直播 graduates has signed a major contract to develop an innovative digital sales platform for a multinational chemicals company.

Big Nasty (from left) - Josh Bamforth, Adam Davies and Jack Fletcher

A tech start-up founded by 海角直播 graduates has signed a major contract to develop an innovative digital sales platform for a multinational chemicals company. Big Nasty Studios successfully pitched to win a contract to work with paint and performance coatings manufacturer AkzoNobel NV to design an app to showcase the company鈥檚 specialty chemicals used to prevent fouling on boats and marine structures.

Big Nasty Studios was formed with the help of a DigitalCity Fellowship and is based in 海角直播 Launchpad, the University鈥檚 start-up incubator.

Using games technology it has developed Project Viz, a visualisation app used as a sales tool which can demonstrate products to customers as they would be operated in real life.

The app allows users to zoom, pan and rotate the products and swipe between different product skins to showcase different colours and materials.

Big Nasty are adapting this technology to develop the app for AkzoNobel and showcase technical information in an easy-to-access visual format.

The company was founded in 2016 by 海角直播 graduates Josh Bamforth, Adam Davies and Jack Fletcher.

Creative Director Josh said: 'Our apps work to make it easier for sales people to explain difficult concepts and showcase different types of products more easily. 鈥淲e tailor them to the specifications of the client so each business gets something that is exactly what they need.

'It鈥檚 great to think that a company with such a high reputation as AkzoNobel was suitably impressed with our work and so we鈥檙e delighted to have won this contract with them.'

AkzoNobel produces speciality chemicals for industry and consumers worldwide. It is based in the Netherlands with factories around the world, including Gateshead.

Mo Chowdhury, a technologist in AkzoNobel鈥檚 transformative research team, said: 'The collaboration with Big Nasty will help convey multifaceted information into a simpler, more visual format for our end use customers.

'They have managed to take our complex requirements and provide a bespoke solution whilst understanding our needs and what benefits they can carry to our customers.

'One of the benefits we are seeing working with Big Nasty is the time and effort they have dedicated early on from the initial scoping stage and their availability throughout the course of the project.' DigitalCity Fellowships, which are funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the University, offer entrepreneurs with innovative businesses up to 拢5,000 to support their business expenses during the initial development stage.

Big Nasty also received help from 海角直播鈥檚 Launchpad FUEL, an eight-week development programme open to 海角直播 students and graduates who are in the early stages of developing a business idea. It offers up to 拢19,000 of grant funding to help them develop their concept.

Laura Woods, Director of The Forge, 海角直播鈥檚 business hub, said: 'Big Nasty are a fantastic example of a young business using the latest technology to provide an innovative service to North East companies.

'We are delighted to have been able to support them and are looking forward to seeing the results of their collaboration with AkzoNobel.'

Applications are being considered for the latest cohort of DigitalCity Fellowships. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 13 March. For more information email c.evans@tees.ac.uk.