A new wide-reaching support programme for early-stage startups and founders across the Greater Manchester region has launched.
Startup Activator, from independent trade body Manchester Digital, will bring together expertise from experienced founders, informative sessions, networking events, as well as the chance to work as a community to influence upcoming governmental policy.
It will also showcase the wide variety of support that’s available to start ups across the region and highlights the many incubators and accelerators that call the region home.
Startup Activator has been launched alongside Manchester Digital’s new Startup Review, which focuses on the state of play for the region’s startups with a number of recommendations.
The report found the Greater Manchester tech region to be strong, with £680m of tech investment raised in 2022 (Beauhurst). In comparison, the data from Beauhurst showed that other UK tech hubs which raised more were London with £17.7bn and Cambridge with £910m.
Other UK tech hubs that raised less than Manchester were Edinburgh with £511m, Bristol with £496m, Leeds with £323m and Liverpool with £99.2m.
“This is a pivotal time for startups and founders in this post-pandemic uncertain economy,” said Katie Gallagher, managing director of Manchester Digital.
“During the Covid pandemic we saw the end of lots of networking and meetups for the startup and tech sector. Not all of these have come back so we could see a gap in the market to create a startup community, with a full programme of independent advice from experts in the field as well as networking events.
“Greater Manchester is a thriving region for the tech industry, but our report found that startups need more joined-up support from the sector, as well as a sense of community.”
Among recommendations from the Startup Review were the need for a neutral place for founders to get advice; clearer oversight of the current landscape; more transparency from university spinout set up; more diversity and inclusion within startups; better connections between startup stages; and better connections with European tech hubs.
The Startup Activator is sponsored by Kao Data, industry-leading data centre provider, which is opening a new £350m Stockport-based data centre.