Splatform creator in bid to win share of £1m in competition

A Scots designer is in the hunt to tap Sir Richard Branson for funds to get a 'physical toy for the digital age' into the hands of consumers.

Splatform is used to make durable forms from parts that snap together in a bubble wrap-like way. PIcture: www.weereplicators.com

At the end of last week, Splatform was sitting a few hundred votes adrift of qualifying for the final round of the UK-wide #VOOM competition run by Virgin Media Business. The top six, as voted on by the public, will pitch for a share of £1 million at a live final in June.

Created initially as a structural experiment by Dunfermline-born Euan Lind, Splatform is used to make durable forms such as wheels that roll and balls that bounce from parts that snap together in a “bubble wrap-like” way.

Splatform was a finalist in the 2014 British Inventor’s Project, after which Lind took on investors in a move that nearly lost him control of the business. He regained 100 per cent ownership at the start of this year with help from the legal team at Edinburgh-based Skyscanner, and with new advisers is now looking to begin marketing direct to consumers.

“I have done lots of different design work, but this is the first thing that I have come across that I thought I could build into a business,” said Lind, who is now based at Edinburgh Napier’s BRT business incubator.