Member Article

Newcastle to kick off Tech North’s Northern Stars programme

Tech North, an initiative to accelerate the growth of Northern England’s digital economy, has launched a new programme set to connect and champion digital startup talent.

The business focuses on attracting and developing talent, entrepreneurship and investment across the digital clusters of Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Sunderland, and all the points in-between.

Its novel Northern Stars project will support ambitious entrepreneurs by facilitating the development of peer-to-peer networks across the region and showcasing this talent nationally and internationally.

The programme’s goal is also to raise the profile of the North’s startups and present a strong proposition for investors, with the initative hoping to be the driving force that connects the dots across the ecosystem in each city, and more broadly across the North as a whole.

Beginning this month with a competition to find ten of the North’s most inspiring digital tech startups, Northern Stars is kicking off in Newcastle on Thursday 24th September and will subsequently travel all over the North offering opportunities for digital start-ups.

Nick Clegg announced Tech North in October 2014. It has been up and running since the release of funding and appointment of its head on 27th April 2015. Part of Tech City UK, the organisation is publicly funded with a private sector mentality that accelerates the growth of digital businesses and clusters across the UK.

Tech North is headed by Claire Braithwaite (pictured above).

Gerard Grech, CEO, Tech City UK, explained: “Over the past five years, Tech City UK has developed and delivered a range of programmes designed to accelerate the growth of digital businesses at every stage of their development – ranging from making business skills freely available through the Digital Business Academy to supporting the country’s fastest growing digital businesses with the Future Fifty. “

“With Tech Nation, we demonstrated the scale of digital excellence that exists right across the North. The research uncovered some staggering trends. With nearly 1.5 million people employed in the digital sector nationwide, 74% of businesses are operating outside the capital.

“Furthermore, there was recognition of the fact that the North had the capability to become a global player across a range of cutting edge sectors from fintech to health tech and beyond.

Mr.Grech added: “Tech North was created following these findings. On many trips throughout the region, I’ve seen an infectious sense of creative collaboration generosity and shared belief. Tech North aims to harness this by supporting the connectivity of the ecosystem and championing the digital talent in the North.”

“With both local knowledge and a deep understanding of digital entrepreneurship, the Tech North leadership team of Claire Braithwaite and Herb Kim have the perfect combined arsenal of experience to power the organisation.

“I’m very excited to work closely alongside the entire Tech North team to cultivate a regional centre of digital excellence as the UK solidifies its position as the tech capital of Europe.”