South West tech accelerator returns to support 150 companies

The only tech business support programme for the whole of the South West of England is returning for its third year, with plans to support 150 small businesses to achieve their growth aims.

The Tech South West Growth Programme launched in 2021 and helped South West companies secure over £1m in funding in its first year. To date, forty tech firms have been supported through the programme.

Returning as Growth Forge 2024, the programme will individually assess over 150 growing tech businesses across all sectors, creating an individual package of support for each from across our specialist partners to enable each company to meet its potential.

The programme also includes three Growth Days across 2024 where the cohort can meet up, mix with partners, share experiences and benefit from workshops delivered by our partners and business coaches.

Since its inception three years ago.the programme has supported the likes of Milbotix, Coreblue, ARC Marine, Intelligent AI, Filmily, Small Robot Company, savvy navvy, digiLab, Kelpi and others to identify and close gaps in their businesses, to raise funds and to improve their understanding of key areas including legals, marketing, sales, pitching for funds and business accounting.

Growth Forge 2024 is delivered with expert partners including UK Top 30 full-service accountancy firm Bishop Fleming, legal specialists Ashfords, professional coaching provider Sandler, award-winning marketing agency Program, full-service insurance broker Howden and global software provider Microsoft.

Ben Cooper, Funding and Support Lead at Tech South West, said: “Growth Forge 2024 will play a key role in supporting outstanding tech companies in the South West to address pain points and achieve their next stage of growth.”

The programme is open to tech companies based in the South West at all stages of growth - from founders and pre-seed startups to scaleups and established organisations.

Amutri is a 3D visualisation company based in Falmouth. The company was named a Tech South West One to Watch earlier this year, and took part in the 2023 Growth Programme.

Michael Calver, CEO of Amutri, said: “Tech South West’s Growth Programme has been fantastic for us, and we’re delighted to have been given the opportunity to be a part of it. We have an amazing network of people, investors, institutions, and companies in the South West and this programme does a great job of bringing it together and making it accessible.”

Via face-to-face Growth Days, an online assessment tool and growth tracker, peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and online resources, Growth Forge 2024 will deliver tailored business support for up to 150 participating companies.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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