On the 17th June, I joined Tech Nation’s Tech Talk for the East of England, hosted by Thea Goodluck who was joined by a varied panel including:

Healx cofounder and CEO Tim Guilliams
Cambridge Innovation Capital, Principle, Carol Cheung
Tech East CCO Tim Robinson
Developing Experts CEO Sarah Mintey

Even national growth platforms like Tech Nation need to pause, and take stock now and again. Covid-19 has forced them to do this a little sooner than expected but the tech sector has sprung into action and shown true resilience.

Yes, companies are pivoting.

It was comforting to hear Liz Scott, Head of Entrepreneur Engagement at Tech Nation, address Black Lives Matter and recognise that there is still plenty to address in the tech sector.

Connecting and scaling tech founders is at the core of Tech Nation’s mission. Central to this work are the regional engagements - Thea Goodluck is the East of England contact so please drop her a line if you’d like more information.

Some highlights from UK Tech for a Changing Word (March report)

The UK is Europes no 1 scaling tech nation hoorah!
Digital tech is a leading light when it comes to contributions to the UK economy

View Report

Regional discussion

£800 mn total digital tech investment (500mn into Cambridge)
Carol mentioned that Covid hasn’t stunted VC investment having just signed off on Pet Medix
Tim: NOW is the time when you’ll understand just how supportive your VCs are
Carol: less than a quarter of the workforce is categories as non-white (in the VC space)
Some roads are being made to stamp this out:
- no policy, no money
- dedicated funds to support with diversity initiatives
- VC boards should be diverse to enable better representation and discussions

Sarah on encouraging diversity from early ages: there is a narrow window to inspire a future generation of talent…up to 6 years old. [Note to self: I must query Sarah on that…because that is scarily young!]

Read Tech Nation have written the event up with far more detail which you can access on their website here and the talk is below if you’re interested in what’s been happening the tech sector in the East.

The talk got me thinking about opportunities available in the East - who are the social enterprises making a difference? A few from the top of my head include:

Realise Futures (Ipswich)
Developing Experts (Norwich)
Form the Future (Cambridge)
The Mentor Circle (Nationwide) spotted via Thea’s LinkedIn posts

After a quick google search - here are some organisations (mainly social enterprises) who are championing younger generations into a range of work sectors, all doing their bit to increase economic participation for all. Are there any social enterprises focused exclusively on the tech sector who are located in the East? Please email me your suggestions (info@lucywoods.com)