Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester

A great opportunity for funded support on AI skills 👇 There are still spaces available at next webinar on 1st of August so sign up below!

Last Friday, we teamed up with Factory International Ventures and MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub to deliver an insightful roundtable, discussing the approach to funding and IP within the Createch industry. At TIC, we’re keen to support AI innovation within the Createch space, so this was a great way to bring stakeholders together to discuss the opportunities ahead of the ecosystem. After experiencing the immersive ‘Sweet Dreams’ show at Aviva Studios (which is fantastic, by the way), investors, founders and creative businesses gathered to discuss the value of owned IP throughout the business lifecycle and where investment should be targeted within the industry. #CreaTech #IP #Investment #GreaterManchester

Great news for businesses looking to train AI talent ⭐📢 Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is offering eligible businesses grant funding to cover up to 50% of the upskilling cost. The pilot has been set up to increase AI adoption and productivity and will be awarded to fund training and learning activities, as well as certification and accreditation programmes. Applications close on August 18th. To find out more, make sure to attend their webinar on August 1st, which will showcase the benefits of AI adoption and offer guidance on the application process and criteria. Sign up for webinar here: https://hubs.ly/Q02HY-R20 Apply for grant funding: https://hubs.ly/Q02HYXDL0

The UK tech sector has reached a new milestone, hitting a combined market valuation of $1.1 trillion in Q1 2024, according to the latest Tech Nation report. AI has been at the forefront of this growth, driving advancements and innovation across the sector. The report reveals that 1 in 2 UK tech companies are using AI to improve their existing product offering, while 16% of UK VC investment was given to AI startups in Q1 2024. There’s so much to uncover around investment and growth, make sure to give it a read⬇️ https://hubs.ly/Q02HNCQg0

On Tuesday, our ecosystems and engagement lead Effa Ettah spoke at The Manchester Metropolitan University’s ‘Developing an AI ecosystem for SMEs: The Support Available, Local Stakeholders and Implementation’ event. Speaking about the AI opportunities and business transformation across Greater Manchester, his talk was part of a full day of conversations that covered a range of topics including embracing AI, supporting business growth through apprenticeships and taking a sustainable approach to AI adoption. A massive thank you to Nader Virk, Stuart Finnerty and Emma Holt for organising such a great event!

The very same day we onboarded Cohort 2 of the AI accelerator we are delivering with Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester, we invited all the teams from Cohorts 1 and 2 to join us for a summer social at the very smart Ducie Street Warehouse! As we look forward to getting to know Cohort 2 over the coming months, it was great to see them mingle with our incredible mentors and entrepreneurs in residence who will be supporting them to build amazing products and smash their fundraising goals. And it was incredibly satisfying to hear from so many Cohort 1 founders about how the support they’ve received on our accelerator is already spurring growth. Thanks to Elizabeth Scott MBE and Jasmin Kailath for a warm welcome, and to our mentors and EiRs David Turner Sarah Foster Mark Duman ⚡️James Akrigg Surayyah Ahmad Sani David Levine Naomi Timperley FRSA Mark Dearden Ross Mackenzie Raam Shankar Segev Hochberg Adam Mitcheson Sherin Mathew Laura Malins Tom Liptrot Nyree Trimbel for turning out in force to welcome Cohort 2. We also took the opportunity to showcase some of our other work with startups in the Northern Triangle. Jonny Clark introduced the Funding Readiness Programme we run with Barclays Eagle Labs, and Vaishali Patel shared an overview of what we are doing with Cancer Tech Accelerator as she announced that this year we’ll be holding our Cancer Tech demo day in Leeds. A massive thank you to Harpreet Kaur Edward Dawson and Mars Menzies for organising such a great event. If you don’t already, give our page a follow and be sure to follow Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester as well so we can let you know about future events for the Greater Manchester tech ecosystem. #manchester #ai #innovation #startups #founders #networking #summersocial #accelerator #northerntriangle

How do you know if you've achieved product-market fit? That was one of the topics of David Turner's mind-blowing workshop yesterday, as part of the first full day of the Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester Accelerator Programme. We were also treated to a session on mastering success, goal setting & strategy development by the indomitable Sarah Foster (apologies for the lack of selfie!). We're only one day in, and it's already proving to be a game-changer! Thank you to all the mentors supporting us, and of course to my fellow cohort members joining LinkyThinks on the programme! Give them all some love: Simon Grice & Mike Alcock of Joggle AI Zoe Fitzsimmons & Thomas Fitzsimmons of Calibrtr Tim Lunt & Alexandra Morris of Habeo Rob March (MBA) of GIGMATE Joe Darwen of CircKit James Chapman of Decently Jason Crispin of IMAGINaiTION 👩⚕️ Emma-Louise Fusari RGN of In-House Health Felix Robinson of Pet Trust UK Drey Kenfack of Credilow AI Dr Fin Williams of MindPsy Dr. Giovannie J. & Azizur Rahman of PROBr Peter McCleery of GetSociable Sam Oliveira of Reform Radio & Beep AI Shainoor Khoja of Thriving.ai Manjit Mooker of miPatient Jasmin Kailath David Levine Mark Duman ⚡️ Jonny Clark Nyree Trimbel Naomi Timperley FRSA Mark Dearden James Akrigg Adam Mitcheson Surayyah Ahmad Sani Segev Hochberg Raam Shankar Sherin Mathew Laura Malins Tom Liptrot Harpreet Kaur ___________________________________ Connect or follow to find out more about LinkyThinks: Empowering future-ready children... #startupjourney #ai #linkythinks #education #manchester #tic #alanturing #edtech #schools #school #teaching #teachers #accelerator #seedround #investment

Yesterday, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the 'Developing an AI Ecosystem for SMEs' event at the Centre for Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University. It was a treasure trove of insights and practical advice for SMEs looking to adopt AI, with learnings from academics, AI experts, and industry leaders.  Here are my key takeaways: 📈 Growth and Productivity: Nader Virk highlighted that 50% of employees will need reskilling by 2025. This presents a massive opportunity for SMEs to embrace technology, including AI, and leverage it for good rather than letting fear hold us back. 🏆 Start Small, Test, and Validate: John McClelland emphasised the importance of starting small and iterating. Testing and validation are crucial for successful AI integration. ✅ Building Confidence: James Montrose MCMI ChMC MRICS advised including the end user in the build and test process to build confidence in AI and ensure the technology meets their needs. 🤖 Control Your IP: Paul Smith stressed the importance of controlling intellectual property. Maintaining data security and training AI on your own data is also important for the best results. 👨💼 Align with Business Objectives: Effa Ettah suggested beginning with the end in mind, ensuring that your AI initiatives align with your overall business objectives. At Nationwide Vehicle Contracts, we’ve been on an exciting journey integrating AI to enhance our operations and customer experience, opening up new avenues for innovation and growth. If you're an SME thinking about exploring AI, I highly recommend checking out Centre for Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University's CDI and Innovation Retreat and Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester as great places to start. Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to learn more about our experience.

The second TIC X Capital Enterprise Accelerator cohort has been announced! A massive congratulations to all the startups that have made it onto the programme! Over the next 6 months, the hybrid programme will be providing a range of support and guidance around investment, including developing a go-to-market strategy, navigating regulations, founder wellbeing and pitching to investors. We’re excited to go on this journey with Greater Manchester’s startups as they build the skills and support network to rocket them to success! 🚀 LinkyThinks Joggle AI Calibrtr Melo Habeo Connected Impact Pet Trust Uk GIGMATE CredflowAI MindPsy PROBr™ IMAGINaiTION CircKit GetSociable Reform Radio BEEP AI Thriving.ai In-House Health Limited

What an amazing evening! It was brilliant to bring together Greater Manchester’s startup community at the Ducie Street Warehouse yesterday for an evening of networking. The electric atmosphere was filled with conversation and collaboration! It was great to meet with both founders and wider ecosystem stakeholders while finding out more about the latest innovations emerging from the landscape. #StartupCommunity #TechStartup #Networking #GreaterManchester Capital Enterprise