TextureJet lands £130,000 Innovate UK grant to develop ArcSlice

What's the deal? TextureJet, a Derbyshire-based surface-processing company, has secured a £130,000 (≈$174,000) grant from Innovate UK to advance ArcSlice, its surface-finishing technology for polymer and composite materials. The award, made through Innovate UK's Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chains: Potential High Growth SMEs competition, funds a nine-month project.

What's the endgame? ArcSlice prepares non-conductive composite surfaces before bonding or coating — a step where manual methods can be inconsistent and hard to automate. The project covers further development, validation, and customer evaluation ahead of commercial deployment, not a launch.

Why now? Polymer and composite materials are increasingly used in aerospace, automotive, and construction for their strength-to-weight ratio. The grant builds on a £50,000 2024 award that supported a robotised prototype and early assessment for space applications.

What could go wrong? This is modest, project-specific funding rather than a major financing round or proof of broad adoption. The key test is whether customer trials show repeatable performance and a credible route to production.

"This award is a fantastic endorsement of both our technology and our vision for the future of advanced manufacturing," said Jonathon Mitchell-Smith, chief executive officer and founder of TextureJet. The company separately raised a seven-figure round in 2026 led by Midlands MindforgeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.

The signal: At roughly $174,000, the grant sits in the bottom tier of disclosed funding events, underscoring its role as early-stage validation rather than scale-up capital. For TextureJet, continued public backing signals confidence — but the commercial case still rests on the trials ahead.

Read more: midlandsaerospace.org.uk

Image credit: John Rees