Tech Climbers mission is to showcase trailblazing businesses in high growth regions. This month sees the official launch of Tech Climbers 2023 in the Liverpool City Region.
So what's Tech Climbers all about? How can you get involved? And how do you get a place at the launch event on the 6 October? We grabbed a chat with Anna Heyes at Active Profile to get the lowdown...
What is Tech Climbers?
Tech Climbers was born out of a desire to showcase and celebrate the best-performing tech businesses in a region. It's all about shining a light on scaling tech businesses and encouraging sector growth.
Our team at Active Profile first launched Tech Climbers in Liverpool in 2019 and published the inaugural list with founding partners the Growth Platform the Activate business support programme.
Tech Climbers is now an annual list published in partnership with BusinessCloud and TechBlast that celebrates the top performing, IP-rich, product-led tech businesses in growth regions across the UK.
Why do you think initiatives like Tech Climbers are important?
Scaling a business can be hard. Bringing together a list of the top performing businesses and providing opportunities for them to connect with each other is really powerful. It gives founders the chance to take ownership as well and to be proud of the brave steps they are taking to create and take new technologies to the market.
It also offers Tech Climber businesses a platform for attracting new investment and we can plug them into national and international opportunities for profile and support.
The insights we get from the entries also help to connect the businesses with the right support and opens up new ways to share the story of growth in the region and promote new investment and opportunities.
How do businesses make it onto the list?
Entries for Tech Climbers 2023 will launch on the 6th October, and businesses can either be nominated or can enter themselves. It's a simple process, you must complete an entry form on the Tech Climbers website.
What challenges do you think the sector is facing?
I think the sector has continued to thrive over the past couple of years – in the face of real adversity with the pandemic and economic downturn. Recruiting the right talent continues to be a challenge and the demand in the region outstrips supply by about a fifth. We need to continue to grow programmes around skills and training to ensure businesses in the region can capitalise on opportunities.
What opportunities do you think the sector should be looking to capitalise on?
According to recent Tech Climber data, the North West attracted £600 million in venture capital investment and £77 million in emerging technologies in 2019. There's huge potential for businesses in the Liverpool City Region to grow and scale. And there’s an ever-growing infrastructure to support this. Everything from the programmes offered by Gather, to the digital infrastructure of LCR Connect, innovation support from universities, and talent programmes like Tech Nation's rising stars programme – the support and opportunities are out there.
What can people expect from the Tech Climbers launch event on the 6 October? Who is it for?
We’re really excited about the launch. It’s a chance for previous and prospective Tech Climber businesses to learn more about the project and how to get involved. There will be opportunities to meet our partners and engage in some insightful panel discussions. It’s going to be a great line-up of investors, advisors, and tech businesses all sharing their experiences and exploring some of the do’s and don’ts of investment and growth.
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Tech Climbers Launch event: Raising investment and gearing up for growth
Date: Thursday 6th October 2022
Time: 4-6pm
Location: Brett Building, University of Liverpool
Find out more and secure your place: https://www.techclimbers.co.uk/launch-event