Scaling Startups in the West Midlands: Early-Stage Funding, Enterprise Partners & AI Regulation

Описание: The West Midlands is building one of the UK’s most dynamic tech ecosystems—but growth doesn’t happen by accident. In this conversation, Yiannis Maos (TechWM) breaks down what founders and scaling teams need to prioritise to accelerate momentum in the region.

You’ll hear practical perspectives on:

Access to early-stage finance and why it remains a key barrier for many startups

The importance of traction, market validation, and go-to-market strategy

How partnerships with major organisations (e.g., large corporates and anchor institutions) can fast-track growth

Why legal readiness is often overlooked—and how it becomes even more critical with AI adoption

The growing importance of AI governance, ethics, privacy, and security

The West Midlands’ advantage: world-class universities within an hour of Birmingham, and how to turn research into innovation and commercialisation

Showcasing the region globally through platforms like Birmingham Tech Week and international trade missions (including examples such as South Korea and Austin, Texas during SXSW)

If you’re building in, investing in, or supporting tech companies in the West Midlands, this is a succinct roadmap of what matters most right now.

Chapters
00:00 West Midlands tech ecosystem: growth + challenges
00:20 Early-stage finance and practical interventions
00:41 Traction, validation, and go-to-market focus
01:18 Legal foundations and scaling
01:41 AI regulation uncertainty and why legal support matters
02:02 Universities, research, and commercialisation
02:52 AI governance, ethics, privacy, and security
03:34 Birmingham Tech Week and global visibility
04:05 Trade missions: South Korea and Austin (SXSW)

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