Heuro Studios: Fledgeling Yorkshire firm supported with grant from broadband provider Quickline
Rural broadband provider Quickline is supporting a young East Yorkshire entrepreneur as part of its partnership with a local enterprise bank.
The business has awarded £728.97 to Alex Sparkes, 21, from Hornsea, who is a director at Heuro Studios.
Mr Sparkes set up the business, based in Hull city centre’s K2 building, with Rand Nessif, 21, from west Hull, and Jack Shanks, 21, from Beverley.
The group are computer science graduates of the University of Hull and established the business to make immersive digital experiences, apps and websites.
The company plans to use the funding to buy a camera, tablet and website domains to enhance work for its clients.
Mr Sparkes said: “A big part of what we do is making digital content more accessible, whether that’s turning a board game into a digital learning tool, or helping a costume business reach new audiences.
“Having the right tools to do that matters, and this grant has made sure we’re not held back by equipment when the ideas are there.”
It comes after Quickline announced a two-year partnership with the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank (JCYEB) earlier this year, with the groups joining forces to support digital inclusion and youth entrepreneurship across East Yorkshire.
The partnership between is designed to help remove digital barriers and enable young people to start, sustain and grow their businesses, offering digital inclusion grants of up to £1,000 to young entrepreneurs aged 16 to 29 who live in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
The initiative is delivered by JCYEB, working alongside partners including East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Yorkshire in Business, C4DI, Hull City Council’s Making Changes for Careers (MC4C) programme and the Smile Foundation.
The partnership also forms part of Quickline’s work on the Project Gigabit scheme, a UK government programme aimed at enabling hard-to-reach and rural communities to access fast, reliable gigabit-capable broadband.
The grant was awarded after the Heuro Studios team sought support from the MC4C programme, which saw Rand also awarded a test market grant of £741.37 to further help with the business’ growth.
Heuro Studios primarily works on educational and heritage projects, including bringing historical figures to life using AI in work with the team at Hull Minster.
Charles Cracknell founder and secretary the JCYEB, said: “We welcome our partnership with Quickline, which has enabled us to give even more support to young East Riding entrepreneurs. It’s thanks to them that we plan to support at least 25 enterprising young people over the next two years.”