The cofounders of Metahelios, namely Charles Altuzarra and Yash D. Shah, were declared the new British Business Bank Start Up Loans ambassadors for the Scotland region.
Dr. Altuzarra and Dr. Shah cofounded Metahelios, but previously they were both physicists in academia. Indeed, that is where they met and became great friends. They only decided to start Metahelios after they had both left academia, seeking job opportunities in industry. They both felt like working in industry, although rumored to be more ‘corporate’, might be something different worth trying. They embarked on their journey together.
They were aware that being some of the very few scientists whose expertise was focused on an emerging technology that was being sought out by Apple, Intel, Meta and Samsung, would mean that if they created their own start up, they had good chances it would be successful. In January of 2022, they registered the company and began their journey.
The first couple of months were very busy with drafting patent applications, and working on their business plan. However, it became apparent that they needed to obtain a substantial amount of money to start manufacturing. They successfully obtained their British Business Bank business loan through Transmit Startups. Without the £50,000 business loan, manufacturing would not have been possible.
The British Business Bank is an economic development bank established by the UK government and owned by the Department of Business and Trade. Since starting in 2012, the BBB Start Up Loans programme has provided a total of £60m in loans to a bit less than 7,000 scottish startups, with a total amount reaching more than £1bn UK-wide.
Fast forward to a year later, Charles Altuzarra and Yash D. Shah were named the new British Business Bank Start Up Loans ambassadors for the Scotland region at an event in London on October 19th 2023. They are both excited and eager to take on the responsibilities as ambassadors and are very grateful to the British Business Bank Start Up Loans programme for their continued support in making metahelios what it is today.