The funding initiative was spearheaded by QVentures, a firm located in London, with participation from several angel investors. SQCDP, taking pride in its North-East England roots, has also been awarded a grant from the Ignite Accelerator.

Designed as a high-value, readily deployable solution, SQCDP offers an alternative to traditional paper and spreadsheet systems prevalent in the manufacturing sector, sidestepping the need for costly, hardware-intensive options. The application, accessible via mobiles, tablets, and desktops, features a straightforward interface for gathering data from the factory floor, thus phasing out reliance on spreadsheets, forms, and whiteboards.

Emphasising the enhancement of connectivity among individuals and teams, SQCDP facilitates the real-time reporting of shift information, benchmarked against set targets to foster ownership and improvement in standards and performance. Early trials with customers have indicated that the application can augment manufacturing operational efficiency by 15% and product quality by 5%.

SQCDP's inception was the brainchild of Stephen Mitchell and Brian Russell. Mitchell, boasting three decades of experience in the manufacturing sector with tenure at companies such as BAE Systems and Coca-Cola Enterprises, and Russell, a solutions architect with a similar span of experience at various organisations including HP, Capita, and RBS, have leveraged their profound insights into the challenges faced by factory workers to devise this innovative solution aimed at tackling inefficiencies.

Co-founder and CEO Stephen Mitchell, known as Mitch to most, says: “We’re excited to be working with QVentures as we look to grow the business. We’re certain that we’ll gain more in SQCDP than simply working capital, we’ll also tap into the experience of a leading VC who is already getting right behind us. This will shape our growth and enable us to make decisions in the best interest of the business during our startup journey. We’re sure that our ambitions are aligned and together we’ll be an unstoppable team.”

Harveer Bharaj, Principal at QVentures adds: “We're excited to be joining Mitch and Brian on their journey in making SQCDP the standard operating system for factories and manufacturing plants. We've already been impressed by the level of execution they demonstrated for existing customers and have seen glowing references from a number of them. We look forward to continuing to support SQCDP as they modernise the manufacturing industry.”

SQCDP is the latest company to receive investment from the QVentures Pre-Seed SEIS Fund, which focuses on investing in software-driven solutions that disrupt traditional industries through efficiency.