Tech WM, the not-for-profit organisation behind Birmingham Tech Week, is partnering with Aston University to create a scaleup programme.
The project will aim to help local tech startups and spinouts become international scaleups.
The partnership emerged following behind the scenes discussions at the recent Birmingham Tech Week festival.
The new programme will help students, entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses access world-class support, investment opportunities and local tech talent.
It will be based in the recently announced Tech Hub based at the Bruntwood SciTech facility ‘iCentrum’, as part of TechWM’s £1m investment into the West Midlands tech sector.
The new partnership will form part of the recently announced Birmingham Innovation Quarter (BIQ), a triple helix partnership between Aston University, Birmingham City Council and Bruntwood SciTech.
“As Europe’s youngest and most diverse major city, Birmingham possesses a competitive advantage like no other,” said Yiannis Maos MBE, CEO of TechWM and founder of Birmingham Tech Week.
“That’s why I’m delighted we are partnering with Aston University, an institution truly representative of the city’s demographic, to harness this talent and create a new and exciting breed of tech scaleups.
“As partners, we will work hard to ensure the programme is inclusive and accessible to all founders. We must harness the creativity of the city’s diverse talent to create unique and innovative tech-enabled businesses.”
Comprising tech mentors, industrial fellows, digital consultancy, workshops and events, the programme will link emerging businesses with support within the Birmingham Innovation Quarter and across the regional ecosystem.
Announcing the plans on behalf of Aston University, Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, said: “Startups are easy, but scale-ups are hard. To grow our economy, we must focus on helping high potential startups and SMEs to grow and access global value chains.
“Our partnership with TechWM aims to realise our bold vision within a new technological revolution, by creating a tech scaleup programme to supercharge our region’s economy.
“Through this partnership we will develop scaleups to tackle some of the world’s biggest and most critical challenges. The programme will catalyse startup growth and digital transformation and create socioeconomic impact across our region.”
The programme will launch in February 2024 and support 100 businesses through its first cohort.