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South West

Find support and useful resources, make new contacts and discover events and opportunities

What’s new in the South West?

Community

International Women’s Day: 19 tech leaders share learnings on Covid-19 and leadership

By Kane Fulton, March 8, 2021

⏱ 11 min read

Community

Looking to get investor-ready? Book a chat with Tech Nation

By Kane Fulton, March 4, 2021

⏱ 2 min read

Community

What does it take to scale a deeptech company?

By Kane Fulton, February 17, 2021

⏱ 8 min read

Community

Meet Matt Exley: our South West Entrepreneur Engagement Manager

By Kane Fulton, January 28, 2021

⏱ 2 min read

Community

Meet the Rising Stars regional winners: the South West’s five top early-stage companies

By Kane Fulton, December 10, 2020

⏱ 5 min read

Community

Rising Stars 3.0: ‘Tech founders can apply today to compete online from anywhere’

By Kane Fulton, October 13, 2020

⏱ 4 min read

Community

What happened next for our 10 Rising Stars 2.0 winners

By Kane Fulton, October 8, 2020

⏱ 7 min read

Community

Unlocking Global Tech: what does the UK offer international founders looking to expand?

By Kane Fulton, September 17, 2020

⏱ 4 min read

Community

16 exciting companies helping to create a more sustainable future

By Kane Fulton, July 3, 2020

⏱ 8 min read

Community

16 innovative AI companies to watch in 2020

By Kane Fulton, July 2, 2020

⏱ 8 min read

Meet Matt

  • Email
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I’m Matt Exley – Tech Nation’s South West Entrepreneur Engagement Manager. We’re building a national network of ambitious entrepreneurs. If you’re a founder who requires support, feel free to book a meeting with me using this form.

Opportunities and events

Interested in attending events for digital tech founders in the South West? Then follow Matt on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the best ones that come his way.

Matt also tweets noteworthy national opportunities for founders – everything from accelerators and competitions to investment and collaboration opportunities, panels appearances, and much more.

  • Have an event or opportunity for Matt to tweet? Get in touch
Tweets by tn_southwest

Tech Nation Report 2020

Read our latest report: ‘UK tech for a changing world‘. See below for headline stats and case studies from the South West.

For additional stats, explore Data Commons. It’s our ground-breaking national database of technology businesses, founders, investors, VC funds, angels, accelerators, universities and service providers to the sector.

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£300mTotal VC investment in 2019

 

£438mInvested in emerging tech (2015-2019)
£346mInvested in AI (2015-2019)
£35,000Digital tech salary (median)
3Digital tech unicorns
3High-value tech scaleups (2019)

 

2Digital tech unicorns

 

2High-value tech scaleups
£35,250Median digital tech salary (2018)oming soon

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Thomas Eyre
CEO, LOQBOX

 

How is your company disrupting a part of the economy?

LOQBOX is on a mission to end financial exclusion globally. We’re reinventing the way people build a credit history by enabling anybody to build a credit history, while they save, for free.

By giving everyone the opportunity to build a credit history and thus a digital identity, we are removing the barriers that stop young people, in addition to those new to the country; returning ex-pats; members of the armed forces; and those who simply haven’t borrowed in the past, from living a normal financial life.

Why did you feel that the place or region that you are based in was a good place to disrupt your industry?

The UK as a whole is a centre of excellence for fintech and financial services. Our regulator is one of the best in the world and UK consumers are excited and engaged with services and offerings that disrupt the status quo.

Our head office is located in Bristol, a vibrant and thriving city with a developing tech scene. From Bristol, we are fixing financial exclusion in the UK and the US.

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Amy King
Cofounder, People Matter

What does your company do?

People Matter is a mental health technology company that provides a safe online space to allow you to measure and improve your mental wellness at work, without the need for cumbersome surveys. In March 2019, People Matter were recognised as one of the 10 Rising Stars of UK technology by Tech Nation and have since won Tech Startup of the Year in the South West.

Why did you choose to base your company in your place or region?

People Matter is based in Bournemouth at Barclays Eagle Labs. We chose to base ourselves in the South West as we believe that there is a lot of talent and opportunity outside of London – and that this is a cost-effective way to start things up.

A number of universities are based in the South West that offer partnership opportunities very relevant to our work.

We also aim to create a different culture and lifestyle to more known hubs such as London. We like that idea that we can build a business that fits with our mission and ethos – to create a more caring world – and what better way than to be by the coast! Our ambition is to help support a growing and exciting community of talent, diversity and innovation.

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Marcus Kern
Cofounder and Director, Duesday

What does your company do?

We’re a new payment provider automating regular payments for the lettings, leisure and utility sectors. As a fintech we help consumers to pay their regular bills through a simple app, giving them transparency and control.

Why did you choose to base your company in your place or region?

Our HQ is based in the rugged valleys of Cornwall with smaller offices in London, Madrid and Mexico City. We chose Cornwall to prove that fintechs can be located anywhere as long as we have superfast broadband and great talent, and Cornwall has both.

Oh, and yes, loving the outdoors to surf, cycle and run helps to clear your mind and focus on the next innovation.

How could the place or region that you are based in be better prepared for your business growth/scaling?

Operating a leading software business from Cornwall is possible. I wish we could get that message out far and wide. We believe that escaping the rut of Shoreditch and the City for other regions and building sustainable high-tech businesses elsewhere is good for everyone involved.

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Victoria Forrest
Founder, VIKA Books

Why did you set up your company in the place/region you are based?

In Bristol, the business is located in the Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio, where I am a permanent resident. I chose to come here because the Pervasive Media Studio has always been a unique and supportive environment that champions radical thinking and diversity.

It has a wide range of residents across the technical and creative industries and it’s easy to forget just how cutting-edge the ideas here are. By being here every day, I can keep my finger on the pulse of what is happening in the wider industry, and see new trends and technologies in the context of artistic application.

What challenges are you facing in your business?

Crossing the chasm! Apparently, we’re slightly too early stage for investment, so we are a skeleton team, not moving as fast as we should, or could be, until we get the cash injection we need to scale. People are genuinely delighted by the product and quickly see its value and potential. I’m putting my priorities into business self-sustainability.

We’d like an investment to move us along, but it’s one hell of a lot of work with absolutely no guarantee of return, especially as a female founder. Previously I got to the last stage before investment and was rejected for being a ‘single female founder.’ I’d been a single female founder from the beginning! So now the ethos is: “Don’t waste your time chasing butterflies. Build a beautiful garden, and the butterflies will come.” – Mario Quintana.

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Tom Carter
CTO, Ultraleap

What about your place or region has enabled you to scale your business?

Bristol is a fusion of deep tech and creative industries, and we’re a company that does very deep physics and tech, but the end result has a very real and human impact – so we feed off of that blend and culture.

The tech ecosystem in Bristol is also great – there’s lots of infrastructure and support through things like SetSquared to help you grow.

How could your place or region be better suited to the creation of billion-dollar value businesses (aka ‘unicorns’)?

1. Access to capital. Once you’re out of angel rounds you need to get on a train to London.

2. Office space. Business in Bristol is growing so much that finding an office can be hard.

3. Transport infrastructure: At the moment it feels like you have to be next to Temple Meads. If you’re not, people are going to struggle to get to you.

External support for founders

Our curated picks of support for founders in the South West

Browse meetups

Looking to discover a new meetup? Here’s our curated picks.

Browse coworking space

Find the perfect coworking space for you and your team.

Browse finance support

Browse investment support – from grants and loans to VC.

Browse skills support

Upskill you and your team with accelerators and more.

Tech Nation resources

Tap the arrows to cycle through our toolkits, reports and other resources for founders

Digital Business Academy

Free courses to help, start or grow a digital business

Tech Nation Visa

Visa for exceptional international tech talent to live and work in the UK.

Upscale: the Book

Learn about scaling a digital tech company from those who have done it.

Data Commons for UK Tech

A ground-breaking national database for the technology sector.

The scaleup glossary

Dog food, hockey sticks and unicorns, busting the tech industry jargon.

The ultimate guide to scaling

Are you up and running and ready to take it to the next level?

UK government resources

Resources from the UK government on starting out or growing a business.

Find other companies like yours

Take a look at the companies who’ve taken part in one of our programmes.

UK Artificial Intelligence Guide

How AI will impact our lives, what it’s all about and cut through the jargon.

Fintech collaboration toolkit

Essential onboarding guidelines for fintechs looking to partner with banks.

Insurtech standards

Form corporate partnerships quicker with this suite of legal documents

Tech Nation Report 2020

Our latest report looks at UK tech for a changing world.

Tech Nation Report 2019

The UK is a global centre for socially responsible technology innovation.

Unicorn update

How is the UK doing when it comes to creating Unicorns?

A Bright Tech Future

Research that shows more than 10% of the UK is employed in digital tech.

Tech for Social Good report

The UK is a global centre for socially responsible technology innovation.

What people say about the South West

Thoughts, opinions and analysis on what makes digital tech in the region tick

What are the opportunities and challenges for digital tech founders in Bristol and Bath?

Featuring comment from SETsquare Bristol, Tumelo, and Immersive Labs.

What are the opportunities and challenges for digital tech founders in Bournemouth?

Featuring comment from THIS Workspace, People Matter, and 3 Sided Cube.

What are the opportunities and challenges for digital tech founders in Plymouth?

Featuring comment from Plymouth Science Park, Expert Insights, and Do More Design.

What are the opportunities and challenges for digital tech founders in Exeter?

Featuring comment from Exeter City Futures, Predina, and Art & Energy.

What are the opportunities and challenges for digital tech founders in Cornwall?

Featuring comment from Software Cornwall, Glas Data, and Packet Ship.

Whatever your stage of growth, we’ve got a programme for you

Tech Nation Founders’ Network

Peer-to-peer network for tech startup founders.

Find out more

Tech Nation Rising Stars

Take your startup to the next level

Find out more

Tech Nation Upscale

Helping the UK’s leading scaleups grow into the tech giants of tomorrow.

Find out more

Tech Nation Fintech

Helping UK fintech startups scale, at home and abroad.

Find out more

Tech Nation Cyber

Helping the UK’s leading cyber security scaleups to accelerate their growth

Find out more

Tech Nation Applied AI

Helping the UK’s Artificial Intelligence scaleups solve real-world problems

Find out more

Have a suggestion for this page? Let Matt know

 

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