TechWM

TechWM is a digital economy agency, advising on regional tech policy, making recommendations and creating partnerships between the public, private and academic sectors. TechWM connects, aims to raise the profile of the West Midlands tech sector and help local businesses go global. Through a number of carefully crafted scale-up initiatives, cross-network collaboration, and original content, Tech West Midlands helps tech and digital businesses successfully scale by providing them with valuable knowledge, insight, and support.

Since its inception in 2019, the organisation has helped businesses raise over £100 million and inspired thousands of people to get into the tech sector. It has also become known for its most popular showcase event, Birmingham Tech Week, the UK’s largest regional tech event.

Rigby Group

Rigby Group is a multinational, tech-focused holding company for a portfolio of privately-owned businesses. Rigby Group is family-owned and has, since its inception in 1975, built a distinguished reputation as both an investor and business operator. Renowned for its independent thinking, and approach to acquiring and nurturing businesses, companies within the Group are supported to be the very best they can be. Rigby Group is a trusted partner to the government, the military, global corporations, major charities, and thousands of medium-sized organisations.

The Group has three main divisions: SCC, the principal trading business, and Europe’s largest privately owned IT services company; Rigby Technology Investments, which operates majority and minority investments in technology businesses; and the Group’s Real Estate assets portfolio covering aviation, commercial, hospitality and residential real estate assets.  Together, they employ more than 9,000 employees, operate in nine countries, and generate a £3.9bn turnover.

The family’s charitable trust, The Rigby Foundation, operates independently from the Group and receives Group funding for its activities. It was founded and operates on the principle that success in business goes hand-in-hand with putting back into society and communities.  Over the last 30 years the Rigby Foundation has supported numerous charities and causes, many in the West Midlands.

About SCC

As Europe’s largest independent IT group, SCC is trusted by public and private sector organisations to discover, design, supply, implement, manage, and optimise the technology that underpins and drives European economies.

SCC provides multi-award-winning cloud services, digital workplace and cyber security solutions to customers in a broad range of public and private industry sectors. It aspires to be the most customer and employee centric IT systems integrator.

Operating out of 65+ locations in the UK, France, Romania, Spain, and Vietnam, SCC delivers limitless IT solutions in partnership with the world’s best technology vendors.

SCC simplifies the complex of IT solutions for global businesses. It helps clients succeed through IT transformation and exceptional customer experiences.

Haatch

Haatch is an award-winning strategic Pre-Seed and Seed Fund that invests in business-to-business software companies with a focus on supercharging them to their first £1m ARR and building the infrastructure to get to £10m+. Haatch was founded by Scott Weavers-Wright OBE and Fred Soneya in 2013 and has since developed tax-efficient EIS and SEIS funds in addition to institutional GP/LP Funds with a particular focus on the regions, having invested over 75% of their capital outside of London since inception.

West Midlands Co-Invest Fund

Launched in 2023, the £25m West Midlands Co-Investment Fund (managed by Midven, part of Future Planet Capital) is a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage scale-ups in the West Midland Combined Authority region. With equal funding from both the West Midlands Combined Authority and the West Midlands Pension Fund the fund is also designed to foster collaboration across the region to help create a fertile environment for the region’s most ambitious entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses.

For more than 25 years, leading Birmingham-based venture capital firm Midven has been supporting Midlands SMEs, investing more than £90m into the region and raising over £200m co-investment into its portfolio. Midven’s ‘more than money’ approach helps to build strong and successful companies and support businesses every step of the way.