CREATIVE & DIGITAL

ISP EXPANDS INTO CORNWALL

South west internet service provider, Jurassic Fibre, has announced the start of its ultrafast broadband network build in Cornwall.

The broadband company has already rolled out its network to homes and businesses across Devon, Dorset and Somerset, where many towns and villages had previously struggled with inadequate and unreliable digital connectivity. Bude marks the start of the broadband provider’s expansion into Cornwall and build through the town will start this autumn with the first homes and businesses expected to

XIGXAG INVESTMENT

Award-winning audiobook platform xigxag has secured a £500k equity investment from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF), as part of a larger £1m funding round.

The funding round was led by the FSE Group, the appointed fund manager for CIOSIF, and includes a number of private angel investors and a successful crowdfunding campaign on the Seedrs platform.

THE TIME IS NOW

Now & Then has been named as the Tourism and Leisure Start-up of the Year at the south west final of the StartUp Awards National Series.

Now & Then, which was created out of Falmouth University’s venture studio, Launchpad, provides tools for attractions to easily create guided tours tailored to each user, using pre-existing or new content.

Founder Mike Robinson said: “Winning this award is a huge honour. A substantial amount of hard work and preparation has gone in to creating Now & Then, we have overcome many hurdles and are now finally in a position to launch the new app. The future is bright for Now & Then - this is only the beginning.” be live before the end of the year. Jurassic Fibre says the decision to extend its network into Cornwall signifies its commitment to “levelling up the south west, digitally, economically and socially”, and represents a substantial investment in the region. CEO Paul Hellings said: “We are delighted to announce this first step into Cornwall, and this milestone is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, who are working tirelessly to get homes connected and bring local communities up to speed when it comes to broadband.”

The funding will enable the Gunnislakebased company, which was recently voted Best New Business at the Cornwall Business Awards, to expand the capacity of its development team and broaden its marketing channels with the recruitment of 17 team members over the next three years.

Meg Salt, investment manager at The FSE Group, said: “xigxag is in an excellent position within a vibrant sector. Their product is easily scalable and presents real scope for accelerated growth in the near future.”

A PLACE TO DREAM

The Hall for Cornwall has welcomed the first tenants to its new co-working space.

Husa, which means ‘to enchant and dream’ in Cornish, offers a range of offices and hotdesking space within the building and just a few footsteps from the new Cornwall Playhouse.

Part of the Hall’s three-year transformation completed last year, the area has been funded by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Government’s Local Growth Fund.

The new tenants include international theatre company Wildworks; Creative UK, the independent network for the UK’s creative industries; Black Voices Cornwall, the charity tackling racism through education, awareness and empowerment; and Cornwall Pride, which supports and celebrates Cornwall’s LGBTQ+ community.

Julien Boast, CEO and creative director at Hall for Cornwall, said: “Husa is fast becoming what we hoped it would be – a melting pot of creativity, collaboration and innovation focused on Cornwall’s creative future.”

SCREEN STAR CENTROID

A London-based performance capture company responsible for bringing some of the world’s bestloved films and games alive, has expanded to Cornwall.

Centroid 3D boasts one of the industry’s largest and most advanced facilities available today and has produced performance capture for a long list of well-known films, games and television, including Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Keen to play a part in Cornwall’s burgeoning screen industry, the company has registered an office at Newquay’s CSpace and plans to forge links with the local universities and colleges to help bridge the gap between business and education. CEO Phil Stilgoe commented: “I was born in Cornwall and to be honest, as a teenager in the mid-eighties, I couldn’t wait to leave… from a career perspective, my knowledge of opportunities was very restricted; farming, police, army, or catering college.

“The transformation of Cornwall has been incredible and today it’s a completely different to the place I grew up in. Postpandemic, it’s become apparent that it’s no longer necessary for a business like mine to be completely London-centric, so that, combined with the fact that Cornwall is now a creative and cultural hub that’s bursting with opportunity and resource, is what has led me to set up an office here.”