Access to Finance SW

Join us for a very special - and very new - way of launching this year’s Tech South West Awards ⬇️🏆

So ... what exactly is "DeepTech"? 🤔 It's UK Tech Week 2025 next week - and after kicking off the week on Monday with events Bristol at Engine Shed, Tech South West is hosting it's latest SW Investment Summit at Armada House, Bristol on on Wednesday 19th March. The focus is DeepTech ... but what actually is DeepTech?! Dr Ben Miles, Ph.D. of Empirical Ventures explains ... (get your tickets here: https://lnkd.in/eX-MHMCs) Johnathan Matlock RWK Goodman Howden, the new name for Aston Lark Innovate UK Business West Angel Investors Bristol British Business Bank Access to Finance SW

The Government has renewed its backing for The Great South West Partnership, following an extensive national consultation on Pan-Regional Partnerships, which saw more submissions from the South West than any other English region. Dan Pritchard, director of Tech South West, said: "The Great South West has a vital role to play in ensuring the regional economy receives the investment, recognition and policy decisions it needs to thrive. "At Tech South West, we are pleased the Government understands the importance of this work, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with The Great South West to deliver positive change across the ecosystem." https://lnkd.in/dYBfZUwP #GreatSouthWest #PanRegionalPartnerships #UKGovernment Karl Tucker Ahmed Goga Sajid Butt FRSA Ben Cooper Richard Beedell Richard Potter

🔈 We're on the one week countdown to the next South West Investment Summit! Where: Armada House Bristol When: Wednesday 19 March 12-5pm The afternoon will be jam-packed with keynote speakers, expert panelists, pitching, insights and networking. Gain insight into the funding landscape for #deeptech including #AI, #cyber, #quantum, #MedTech, #BioTech and #robotics. Grab your ticket: https://lnkd.in/d_8HTaJg #TechSouthWest #FundingAndFinance #Investment #TechGrowth Nikhita Govekar Professor Matt Freeman Harry Alexander Catherine Fletcher Deborah Watson Rupert Clerey Charlotte Ebbutt Scott Preece Edward Tellwright Ben Cooper Dan Pritchard Richard Beedell Laura Bond Joe Bevan Nathan Hulcoop

Celebrating Women in Tech this International Women’s Day! 💜💡 At Tech South West we are celebrating the incredible women making waves in tech. 👊 A third of the founders on our Growth Forge Programme 2024 are female. These trailblazing founders are driving innovation, building game-changing businesses, and shaping the future of tech in the South West and beyond. Their leadership, vision, and determination inspire us every day. 🙋🏻♀️And it doesn’t stop there—almost 50% of the Tech South West team are women, bringing expertise, creativity, and passion to everything we do. From driving initiatives that support the region’s tech ecosystem to leading key programmes, their impact is felt across every part of our work. 🏆 Through our Tech South West Awards, we’ve proudly celebrated the achievements of women across the sector, spotlighting female founders, leaders, and rising stars who are shaping the future of technology. Whether it’s through our Investment Summits, the partners we collaborate with, or the key figures driving progress in the tech ecosystem, we’re dedicated to amplifying the voices and successes of women in tech. But we know there’s still more to do. That’s why we’re committed to championing women in tech, supporting female founders, and ensuring the South West continues to lead the way in innovation, inclusion, and opportunity. This #IWD2024, let’s celebrate the achievements of women in tech and push for even greater progress. Who inspires you in the industry? Tag them below! 👇 #WomenInTech #TechSouthWest #DiversityInTech #FemaleFounders Hannah Matthews Georgie Cox Gabriela Isas Niki Davies Holly Patton Tanuvi E. Wendy Harris Kate Nicholls Julia Lucy Savin (Cert CII) Sarah Fasey Deborah Watson Emma Mallett Tyne Hill Cert CII Claire Coulston Charlotte Collyer Lizzie Tottle Pippa Clarke Rav Bumbra Connie Wilson Rhona Munro MSc Thanh Quan-Nicholls Hannah Rowe Alicia Grimes Ruth Farenga Nikhita Govekar Lauren Crawley-Moore Catherine Fletcher Elly Rowley Briony Phillips Frances Lucraft Asel Sartbaeva Dr Chen Mao Davies Amy Newton Chloe Vernon-Shore Emily Hill Dominie Dunbrook Amber Probyn Hazel McShane Josephine Dorh

Yesterday it was AIB’s latest members pitch event at Origin Workspace. We were treated to a pitch from Caroline A. and Simon Oddy from Medivys, and a wine tasting experience from Canned Wine Group. A great way to spend an afternoon/evening! Medivys is a great example of how AI can be used to simplify and accelerate meaningful, but mundane tasks for NHS GPs. GPs, on average, deal with 40 items of patient correspondence each day. It’s takes about 5 mins to deal with each piece. That’s 3.5 HOURS PER DAY! In reality, it’s 3.5 hours of their own time in evenings and weekends, just adding to the stress to an already difficult job, and to their home life. Medivys’s +ministr8 (that’s administrate to save you time …) system is trained on a GP surgery’s own data to provide the likely outcomes for each piece of correspondence. GPs want to (and are likely to be compelled to) maintain continuity of care - and so reading the correspondence is key, but then dealing with the actions from the letters can be time consuming. Medivys speeds it up by using AI to read the letter and give the GP the most likely “next steps” based on previous actions for similar correspondence. Brilliantly simple, but highly impactful. Canned Wine had pitched online to out members a few weeks ago, and took the opportunity to come in, treat us to a wine tasting from wine expert and co-founder Ben Franks, while Ben and CEO Simon Rollings took questions from the members about the business and the fund raise they have under way. We’re hoping to support both businesses and add them to our growing pipeline! Jon Bonnick Peter Lockett Ben Cooper Tech South West David Kelly

Catherine Fletcher is joining the SW Investment Summit on Wednesday 19 March in Bristol as an expert panelist. Catherine is a Partner at Science Creates VC (SCVC), a specialist deep tech investor backing founders at the earliest stages. With a PhD in Chemistry, she combines deep technical expertise with hands-on investment experience to help turn cutting-edge science into transformative companies. Catherine plays a key role in shaping SCVC’s investment strategy and guiding founders through the unique challenges of commercialising deep tech, using SCVC’s technology-product fit approach to de-risk early-stage breakthroughs. Other experts at the event include Adam Kelly of British Business Bank Investments, Lauren Crawley-Moore of London Stock Exchange, Melanie Goward of Maven Capital Partners and others. Grab tour ticket: https://lnkd.in/d_8HTaJg Rupert Clerey Deborah Watson Scott Preece Jason Coleman Richard Beedell Ben Cooper Dan Pritchard

Building an AI business in the South West? Do you want to scale faster, secure investment and connect with support opportunities? Growth Forge AI is here to help. 🔹 Get expert guidance to tackle your biggest challenges. 🔹 Meet investors actively looking for AI opportunities. 🔹 Learn from peers and take part in dedicated growth days. "The networking opportunities and expertise gained through the Growth Forge programme have been fundamental to our growth trajectory this year and were key to our introduction to Angel Investors Bristol and growth mentors." – Anthony Peake, CEO at Intelligent AI Limited. This is your chance to accelerate growth and sharpen your edge in AI. Are you ready? Learn more in our upcoming webinar  ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eBRCQwbg #GrowthForge #AI #TechGrowth #Investment #SouthWestTech Future Space - Bristol Professor Matt Freeman Ashfords LLP Bishop Fleming Chartered Accountants Howden Innovate UK Microsoft Program | B Corp™ British Business Bank Dan Pritchard Andy Doyle Ben Cooper

If you're a founder, you know how tough it is to raise capital at the moment! I joined Henry Whorwood and Toby Brown for their online review of Beauhurst's "The Deal 2024" yesterday morning. Time and reflection since the report was published a few weeks ago, hasn't made the numbers or charts look any better - despite Henry's attempts at positivity! 2024 - and in particular the latter part of the year - was really tough for fund raising. The overall amount of funding raised in 2024 fell by 19% to £16.5bn, with the number of deals dropping 24% to 5256. This is the continuation of a downward trend since the peak in 2021 - where over £31bn was invested across 8252 deals. For me, what was even more concerning was the dramatic fall in funding in the South West. The numbers are a little unclear as Beauhurst have added in data around "unannounced funding" for 2024, but in 2023 the South West attracted 5.4% of the £16.5bn of announced funding across the UK. In 2024, the number (for announced and unannounced funding) was just 2.4%. This compares to places like the North West that jumped from 4% to 10.1%. London continues to dominate with over 58% - no surprises there - but what appears to be a sharp decline in the South West is a cause for concern. To help better understand this, and the wider investment ecosystem, on 19th March Tech South West is hosting it's first of four Investment Summits and Showcases in 2025 - two Summits in the South West with two London Showcases in May and September - as part of it's Funding & Finance Programme for 2025. The focus for the March Summit is Deeptech (an increasingly broad church that takes in AI, Cyber, Quantum, MedTech, BioTech and Robotics), a key area for the South West. I'm going to be particularly interested in Nikhita Govekar of Beauhurst's review of the South West investment environment - and to drill into those numbers. The afternoon event is jammed packed with speakers, and an impressive panel of DeepTech investors who can shine a light on the sector for us. The key note is to be delivered by Adam Kelly of British Business Bank: British Business Investments, but there is also Lauren Crawley-Moore from London Stock Exchange talking about its planned PISCES exchange, and Professor Matt Freeman talking about DeepTech support at Future Space - Bristol. If you want to join me (and 120+ other investors, founders and ecosystem players), you can grab a ticket here: https://lnkd.in/eX-MHMCs British Business Bank British Business Bank South West Howden, the new name for Aston Lark RWK Goodman Business West Innovate UK Angel Investors Bristol Access to Finance SW Chris Oliver Oxford Innovation Finance Melanie Goward Maven Capital Partners Catherine Fletcher SCVC Matthew Hicks Fortescue Capital Harry Alexander QantX Richard Yorke

How's this for an expert lineup? 😎 Join the SW Investment Summit on Wednesday 19 March to gain insights into the current tech funding landscape from: - Adam Kelly, British Business Investments - Ben Cooper, Angel Investors Bristol - Nikhita Govekar, Beauhurst - Lauren Crawley-Moore, London Stock Exchange - Professor Matt Freeman, Future Space - Bristol - Chris Oliver, Oxford Innovation - Melanie Goward, Maven Capital Partners - Richard Yorke, cyber investor - Matthew Hicks, Fortescue Capital - Harry Alexander, QantX - and more! With a #Deeptech focus, you'll take part in discussions around AI, Cyber, Quantum, MedTech, BioTech and Robotics; learn about raising investment as a Deeptech business; hear about the importance of IP and how you can leverage IP to raise funding and enhance investment opportunities, all with insight from industry-leading speakers and expert panelists. Get your tickets: https://lnkd.in/d_8HTaJg #TechInvestment #TechEvents #InvestmentEvents #FundingAndFinance Ben Cooper Dan Pritchard Edward Tellwright Ben Masheder Stuart Nicol Rob Nicholls Anthony Peake Layla Burrows Sara Palmer