Technology quango celebrates successful Launchpad take-off

The four-year old quango, which is sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) set up the Tech City Launchpad initiative as part of its remit to create economic growth “by ensuring that the UK is a global leader in innovation”.

 

The pilot culminated in a day-long workshop held at the East London cluster, where 40 shortlisted companies out of over 200 original submissions had the opportunity to pitch for funding from a range of investor sources attending the event, including business angels, venture capitalists, and banks.  Nearly half of the shortlisted companies had been selected government grants of up to £100,000, subject to matching funding from private investors.

 

Up to £2m of funding has been made available by the Technology Strategy Board, double the initial figure of £1m.

 

The workshop was closed with a speech by the universities and science minister, David Willetts. In a statement, Willetts said the initiative provides vital support to “highly innovative” small digital companies: “The investment will give them the opportunity to grow and transform their exciting ideas for new digital products into reality.

 

“The Government is committed to ensuring the continued success of Tech City because we want the UK to help to lead the next wave of technological breakthroughs,” he added. “The maximum funding available for the Launchpad initiative recently doubled from £1 million to nearly £2 million, and only last week we announced a range of intellectual property reforms that will help drive forward innovation and growth in the highly skilled technology sector.”

 

Eric Van Der Kleij, CEO of Tech City Investment Organisation (part of UK Trade and Investment), stated: “Tech City is home to some of the most creative and talented technology and digital entrepreneurs, who often have brilliant ideas but lack the resources to experiment. Together with the Technology Strategy Board we listened to the community to support them through this matched-funding grant and, judging by the quality of the 220+ applications, they didn't disappoint. By highlighting the talent at work in the area to investors, we showcase the thriving start-up scene in London and help further establish its reputation as one of Europe’s leading technology hubs.”

 

Speaking to BusinessZone.co.uk, David Bott, director of innovation programmes at the TSB said the success of the Tech City Launchpad initiative could prove to be the foundation for future schemes in technology clusters around the UK: “As far as we are concerned the whole Launchpad process, from the two-minute video [submissions], the business plan competition, to the investor workshop, has worked. What we’re now going to do is go away and think where else we can apply this around both the geography of the UK and the market.”

 

“Is there a strong enough media cluster in Manchester or Bristol? Is there a strong enough software cluster in Edinburgh? Are there people doing interesting light engineering in the West Midlands or bio-tech in Cambridge?” he commented. “We’ve proved the process – now we’re going to go away and think where else we go and use it to support these clusters.”

 

“We’ve got a new tool to support companies, and that’s what we’re looking to use.”