New £2m funds for Birmingham tech innovators

More than two million pounds worth of new capital will fund three Birmingham institutions to mentor and support up-and-coming tech companies and SMEs.

The £2.05 million will be administered by science parks Innovation Birmingham and Alta Innovations, and the University of Birmingham which owns the latter.

The new funds will boost business support, mentoring and incubation services and will build upon Innovation Birmingham’s digital and Alta Innovations’ life science communities and facilities.

In addition to support, businesses will have access to entrepreneurs-in-residence and local experts through one-to-one structured support, workshops and networking events.

Businesses benefiting from the funding will be able to locate themselves within co-working spaces at the Entrepreneurs for the Future incubator on Innovation Birmingham Campus or the BizzInn Incubator at Birmingham Research Park next to the University of Birmingham’s campus in Edgbaston.

Support will be provided to eligible companies free of charge, typically over a period of up to nine months.

Katharine Fuller, head of projects at Innovation Birmingham, said: “With over 14,152 companies launched in Birmingham last year alone, the region continues to be a hotspot for entrepreneurialism and, with a large, skilled and youthful workforce, established infrastructure and strong digital connectivity, it is vital that we continue facilitate and support new and existing talent by providing the necessary conditions for them to thrive.

“This funding will go some way towards achieving this goal and BizzInn will be a fantastic addition in delivering the next phase of this project.”

David Coleman, head of enterprise acceleration at the University of Birmingham, added: “Through the close collaboration of our respective hi-tech support programmes, we’re providing stronger and more identifiable places for hi-tech entrepreneurs and businesses in Birmingham to access support.

“Our interventions will help teams at all stages, from proving the viability of their concept, to building teams and relevant supplier or customer contacts, to attracting finance.”