We’re proud to have celebrated the success of some of Birmingham’s most innovative and under-the-radar entrepreneurs at the joyful closing event of three of our Funded Membership Programmes. Our team drew in an eclectic mix of industry-setters, mentors and mentees to celebrate the innovation we’ve been able to support through our funded programmes. In the following news piece, we celebrate the amazing achievements these entrepreneurs have made and take a look to the future at what they can achieve next.
Digital Direction Entrepreneurs
We started the Digital Direction programme with an ambition of supporting 23 tech-focussed businesses, but due to exceptionally high demand we ended up actually supporting 39, digital businesses, 170% of our target! Across the whole Digital Direction programme activity, such as lunch and learns, 1-2-1 support and mentorship, we engaged a whopping 344 of the regions’ digital businesses. But the proof in the pudding wasn’t the number of businesses we supported, but the impact that these businesses have made. Programme participants managed to create 15 new jobs during the support programme, a demonstrable impact that these businesses can make on the tech talent that resides in the region. The businesses also created 14 new products along the duration of the programme, a tangible show of the innovation that is possible when we work to support the region’s digital scene. Fantastically, this innovation has solid foundations to continue and even accelerate, with an incredible £2,127,500 in funding being raised by participants of the programme! We’re excited to see this innovation continue and see the West Midlands cement itself as one of the world’s thriving tech hubs.
Forward Entrepreneurs
We were also delighted to have supported 170 growing businesses in Birmingham and Solihull as part of our Forwards programme. As part of this programme, entrepreneurs and innovators received:
- Access to fully equipped, collaborative workspace
- Up to 20 hours of dedicated business support and mentoring
- Access to networking opportunities with like-minded individuals and businesses
- Access to our community events
- Guidance from our skilled mentors and technicians with decades of experience
We’re really happy to share some feedback we had a programme:
Karl Obszanski, Founder and Owner at Aston Vision Sciences Ltd shared:
“With the help of STEAMhouse, we have been able to accelerate development and significantly
reduce prototyping costs. Access to the various machines have allowed us to experiment with
various designs and iron out any issues prior to volume manufacture.”
Charlie Kirkham, Artistic Director and Owner of Charlie Kirkham Art fed back:
“I have achieved securing my first sole curator project showcasing the works of 37 artists from 5
countries, this has included securing 11 sponsors and also showing the artworks produced at
STEAMhouse.“On the back of the first show’s success I am now in discussions with curators in the US about creating a touring version of the show. My business has also secured an exclusive print-on-demand collaboration project.”
Finally we hear from Carl woods, Director at Zedmill Ltd:
“Having access to STEAMhouse has been brilliant, as both a space to work from, and to meet other
people. As a relatively new business, operating in challenging conditions, having a stable base that I can come to, and invite clients and colleagues to, has been fantastic. I was even able to win a contract to do the post-production for a Channel 4 production, because of the flexibility and care shown by the memberships team at STEAMhouse. This was due to her enabling the client to come to STEAMhouse during the entire duration of the edit. Without this in-person contact, I most likely wouldn’t have won the contract, and this editing work would have gone to a London based company!”
Diverse Innovation Accelerator Entrepreneurs
We are so proud to have supported 10 women-led and/or culturally diverse businesses, as part of the Diverse Innovation Accelerator. With the support of 4 fantastic mentors; Mark Ashton, Indy Hunjan and Michelle Dalton; our funded members went on to receive over £100,000 in investment! This monetary show of faith by investors into these inspiring entrepreneurs is a testament to the ingenuity and drive that the programme participants have shown and the promise that their futures hold. These entrepreneurs have developed 6 new products with the support of the nearly 40 events and masterclasses they attended, the mentoring they received and the peer to peer learning they embarked on. We’re proud to have put a spotlight on these entrepreneurs and look forward to seeing their ground-breaking work continue!
As this round of funded support programmes comes to a close, we encourage you to keep your eyes peeled for any future announcements on funded programmes or eco-system support. We’re exceptionally proud to be a lead delivery partner for the CreaTech Frontiers programme, a £7.2 million, five-year initiative funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to boost innovation and growth across the West Midlands’ creative industries.
