Media Cymru’s final Development Fund prompts £1 million investment for future-facing innovations for the media sector

Media Cymru has welcomed 20 new projects in the final round of their innovation pipeline Development Fund. Welsh SMEs and freelancers have benefitted from £50K each to research and develop innovative products, services and experiences for the media sector. 

The new cohort’s projects span a range of diverse areas such as immersive technologies like AR (augmented reality), AI, green solutions and accessible practices in the screen industry, Welsh language media production, immersive performance and audio experiences.  

Director of Media Cymru, Justin Lewis, said: 

“This round of development funding was one of the toughest and most competitive rounds we’ve seen in Media Cymru. The range of successful projects represent a breadth of innovative solutions, products and experiences addressing the future needs of the sector and their audiences. We look forward to working with this exciting new cohort of innovators and seeing where the R&D (research and development) process takes them…”

The new funding follows a 2024’s funding call, where £1 million was awarded to 24 projects covering areas such as esports, ethical AI and virtual experiences. 2025’s Development Fund projects align to Media Cymru’s wider mission to support a fairer, greener and economically sustainable media industry in Wales. 

The 2025 Development Fund cohort will be the last group offered the opportunity, as part of Media Cymru’s Innovation Pipeline. The pipeline is a series of targeted funding calls for Welsh businesses to explore and develop their early-stage ideas through to fully validated projects, benefitting the media sector in the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) as part of Media Cymru’s mission to revolutionise and future-proof the media sector.  

Infinite Renewables were awarded the Development Fund for their project ‘Powering the Future of Film for a low carbon future’. Infinite Renewables is a Wales-based specialist renewable energy developer that designs and installs renewable energy systems across the UK and internationally. They are keen to explore alternatives to diesel generators on site and plan to develop a renewable mobile energy generator for the media sector.  

Nigel Hollett, External Affairs Consultant at Infinite Renewables, said: 

“We are really excited about our project to develop a mobile electricity generator for the media sector that operates using renewable energy. It will be transportable to anywhere where power is needed and there is no local electricity grid. We hope it will make a significant contribution to decarbonising the sector through reducing the use of diesel generators.”

Wales-based startup Breaking Change has been awarded the Development Fund to push forward its ambitious work in simulation-driven technology and experiences for core gamers. Their project will explore innovative environmental simulation and deep learning techniques to build richer, more immersive experiences, redefining how players interact with and transform truly responsive environments. 

Jonathan Quinn, Founder and CEO of Breaking Change, said:

“We’re really excited about this project. The Media Cymru Development Fund gives us the chance to explore ideas we’ve been passionate about for a long time, enabling us to take on major technical challenges and grow our capabilities as a team. Ultimately, we want to help position Wales at the forefront of AI development for games and we hope our work will benefit not just games, but also related creative industries.”

Also awarded the Development Fund is South Shore Productions’ project ‘Making Waste Pay in the Television Production Sector’. South Shore is an independent non-scripted television production company. In partnership with Potenix, they will develop and trial a portable Biogenerator that can be used by production teams filming on location, minimising the amount of food waste on location and reducing the reliance on unclean energy sources. 

Anthony Hughes, Chief Financial Officer, at South Shore said: 

 “South Shore is delighted to be partnering with biotech start-up Potenix and the team at Media Cymru, PDR and Alacrity to develop and trial a portable bio-generator to use on filming locations to reduce energy consumption and waste. The trial will see comprehensive data collected as the bio-generator is used on a number of filming locations across 2025, with the aim to prove the commercial case for use of Bio-generators across the TV production sector.” 

Funded projects will run between July 2025 and May 2026 2025, with support and guidance from Media Cymru partners PDR and the Alacrity. 

2025 Development Fund projects:

• Atgof Cyf: An AI-assisted toolset that enables anyone working on a script-based TV production to access and generate the information they need
• Breaking Change: Redefining Video Game Immersion with AI-Driven Real-Time Deformable Environments
• BumpyBox Ltd: Tiny Buds Interactive – a new way for preschoolers to experience animated television
• Campfire Digital: Openality – advancing design for immersive media in special educational needs contexts
• Cowshed: Game-Changer – an accessible modular gaming controller to enable disabled young people in Wales to find new ways to access the world of gaming
• Dark Arts Digital: Hidden Hits – unlocking hidden opportunities from an artist’s streaming data
• Dizzy Bango Ltd: Eiliad: A Platform for Personalised Adaptive Audio Wellness Narratives
• Front grid / FG Innovations: Parachuting Paradrop into the evolution of linear game narratives
• Infinite Renewables: Powering the Future of Film for a low carbon future
• Pyka: The Expression Orchestra – a suite of multi-sensory instruments designed to increase access to musical expression 
• Red Seam: Exploring possibilities for live performance for all, and new market opportunities in an evolving digital and VR space
• S4C Digital Media: Bringing live interactive music events to the living room
• Screen Tales: 3D Ambisonic Audio Maps – an innovative audio accessibility tool allowing people to prepare before exploring new environments
• South Shore Productions: Making Waste Pay in the Television Production Sector
• Tinopolis Interactive: Developing content driven television through lean VFX processes
• Tom Mumford: Revolutionising Voiceover – building a Human-Centred Platform for the Future of Voiceover Creatives
• Triongl: SgrînPass – a Digital Access Passport for streamlining EDI data reporting and supporting better inclusion in the screen industry
• Turbulence: Digital Twinning for Virtual Production and Location Licensing
• Unquiet Media: PreProdX: Exploring more efficient and accessible pre-production processes
• Wild Connect: Developing a Nature Impact Surveying Toolkit for the Entertainment Industry
• Wild Dream Films: An AR interactive app for children aged 5-8, inspired by Martha and Freddy’s adventures
• Work Wild: GetSet Cymru meets the core recommendation of the Wales Screen New Deal: “create the space and infrastructure for reuse”
• Y Pod Cyf: Llais Version 2 – AI-driven lip-syncing and dubbing in the Welsh language
• Yellobrick: Gentle Gathering: an experimental new media format blending communal dining, AI facilitation, and projection mapping.