What makes Manchester such a good place for tech startups?
There are several reasons why Manchester’s tech ecosystem is so strong. As already noted, the city is home to the University of Manchester, which offers extensive support to startups and scaleups in the region.
The university’s Innovation Factory is driving IP commercialisation and knowledge exchange, with a focus on creating spinouts within computing, life sciences, engineering and manufacturing, and physical and social sciences. The university has also built a biotech centre at the Manchester Incubator Building and offers lab space at its Core Technology Facility.
In fact, there are several incubators and accelerator programmes based in Manchester, offering world-class facilities and business support, such as Bruntwood SciTech and Enterprise City’s Exchange scheme for early-stage tech startups. Manchester also offers great transport links to other leading startup ecosystems, easily accessible to London in the South and Leeds in the North.
Investment is another big driver of Manchester’s burgeoning tech landscape. Indeed, we track several funds that focus specifically on investing in companies headquartered in Manchester and the North.
These include Manchester-based angel network GC Angels, which backs innovative businesses in the North West, and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF). NPIF is a collaboration fund between the British Business Bank and 10 Local Enterprise Partnerships across the North of England. It’s supported by the European Regional Development Fund, and has multiple fund managers, most notably Maven and Mercia Asset Management.
Another very active VC fund in the North is Manchester-based Praetura Ventures. According to the firm’s Managing Director, David Foreman:
‘Manchester’s tech sector has been quietly growing for several decades and we’re now at a pivotal point where it’s starting to gain global recognition. That’s thanks to large-scale public companies like The Hut Group, but also newer startups like Matillion and Peak—this next generation of tech businesses are proving that early champions in Manchester were an emerging blueprint for the city.’
Explaining why Manchester is such a great ecosystem for tech startups, Foreman adds that:
‘a lot of that is down to the region’s strong sense of community. Unlike in London, we’ve found there’s a greater emphasis on giving back to the startup ecosystem in the North, especially among later-stage investors. That spans the M62 corridor, to both Leeds and Liverpool, with Manchester acting as a focal point. Two-thirds of Praetura’s portfolio are based in the North of England, and we’re actively creating relationships with both seed and later-stage funders that are passionate about playing a role in the ecosystem there.’
We also asked Foreman how he expected the landscape to change in the coming years:
‘Manchester is known as a hub for fast-growing media and retail companies. But, looking forwards, I expect to see exciting businesses in the city emerging from a broader range of industries. It’s likely too early to say which of these will be the next big thing in Manchester, but the one thing they all have in common is their focus on developing and deploying great tech.’
Top 10 Tech Startups in Manchester
Powered by Beauhurst data, we’ve curated the top tech startups in Manchester and ranked each company by the amount of equity investment received to date.
Each of the businesses in this ranking is headquartered in the Greater Manchester area and currently operating at either the seed or venture stages of evolution.
We’re only looking at private companies, so our results exclude big names in the region such as The Hut Group that have already undergone IPOs or acquisitions
