Cardiff Capital Region and Connected Places Catapult jointly fund 18-month innovation post

Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) and Connected Places Catapult have created a jointly funded 18-month post, Head of Regional Innovation Partnerships, to resource a strategic partnership on innovation-led growth in South East Wales.

CCR said Owen Wilce, its Innovation Senior Manager, has been appointed to the new role. The post is funded jointly by CCR and the Catapult and is intended to give the partnership the resource to deliver impact and ensure collective action.

The announcement followed a visit by the Catapult's Regional Growth team to CCR's Sbarc offices in Cardiff, where CCR said a leadership discussion explored how the partnership could achieve maximum impact.

Owen Wilce, Head of Regional Innovation Partnerships, said: "The Catapult is investing in embedded roles like mine across the UK". He also said he was joining Connected Places Catapult in his new appointment.

The partnership

CCR said the focus of the partnership is now on strengthening connections between businesses, research, public-sector challenges and investment, creating clearer routes for innovation to reach customers, attract investment and scale.

Gavin Powell, CCR's Head of Innovation, said: "Having an embedded presence alongside our team and other partners such as UKRI will strengthen the commercialisation pathway in our region, helping more businesses turn great ideas into market-ready products and services."

Connected Places Catapult describes itself as the UK's innovation accelerator for transport, the built environment, cities and local growth. CCR said the arrangement brings together its regional knowledge and local investment experience with the Catapult's national expertise and networks.

Background

The two organisations have worked together before. According to a Catapult article published in March 2025, CCR took part in the Catapult's Joining the Dots economic development initiative after joining its Innovation Places Leadership Academy programme. Through the Catapult, CCR was also introduced to a possible partnership with a city region in Japan.

The same Catapult article set out the scale of investment CCR brings to the relationship. It said CCR's City Deal would see £1.2bn invested in infrastructure over 20 years, and that CCR had created a £50m Innovation Investment Capital fund. The region's investment zone focus includes developing its compound semiconductor capabilities, the Catapult said.

Sam Markey, Director of Place Leadership at Connected Places Catapult, said in that article that Cardiff and the wider Cardiff Capital Region have significant potential for innovation-led local growth.

What happens next

CCR said the aim of working together is a more connected regional innovation ecosystem supporting a greener, fairer and stronger South East Wales. The jointly funded post runs for 18 months.