Four businesses compete for £1 million prize pot at Tech Week competition
TechWM’s brand-new One to Win competition, launched earlier this year, has announced its final four contenders: two businesses from Coventry and two from Birmingham.
These finalists will pitch tomorrow, Wednesday 23 October, at TechWM for a chance to secure £1 million in investment.
Supported by leading investors, stakeholders, and key tech players, One to Win highlights the region’s dynamic tech sector on a national stage. The investors, who will also serve as judges for the October 23 pitches, include:
- Tech WM - Yiannis Maos MBE, CEO
- Rigby Group (including IT services company SCC) - Steve Rigby, co-CEO
- Midven (West Midlands Co-Investment Fund) - Rupert Lyle, fund principle
- Haatch Ventures - Fred Soneya, co-founder
Two of the four businesses shortlisted are based in Birmingham:
ChangeMaker3D, is an award-winning sustainable technology brand, that is disrupting the world’s biggest industries and polluters, making them more efficient and sustainable.
Starting in construction – the world’s second largest carbon polluter – they are using state-of-the-art robots to ‘3D concrete print’ the UK’s infrastructure across waterways, railways and nuclear power.
Their new ‘Printfrastructure’ technology cuts carbon by 20 per cent, costs by 20 per cent and time by 50 per cent. And it can take on any size, shape or location.
OneUp Sales, is a sales performance management platform bringing together analytics, gamification, and visualisation, to build high-performing sales teams.
Recruitment agencies often find themselves struggling to grasp their data, but One Up is addressing this by adding to a recruiting company's tech stack by offering real time data, flexible dashboards and an integrated report builder.
Two of the four business shortlisted are based in Coventry:
Skyfarer, is a drone and aerial technology company that has set out to achieve a future where aerial logistics revolutionises industries, connecting the world in a more efficient, economical, and sustainable manner.
Through licensing their proprietary software system, Skyfarer facilitates the seamless and routine deployment of multiple drones for commercial logistics, inspections, and emergency surveillance operations, all managed from a centralised location.
Inicio Ai is a fintech start-up that simplifies the complex process of capturing detailed income & expenditure information using an innovative solution: it leverages conversational AI to guide users through a self-serve affordability assessment. The platform works alongside technology such as Open Banking to simplify the income and expenditure process, making it less intimidating for consumers and more efficient and effective for businesses.
Yiannis Maos MBE, CEO of TechWM said: “One to Win is going to be one of the highlights of Birmingham Tech Week and the four businesses shortlisted are testament to the great tech landscape we have here in the West Midlands.
“The £1 million invested in this competition’s prize pot will now be going to a business that we can only see do groundbreaking innovation with and we are excited to see whoever wins what they can utilise with this once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Steve Rigby, Co CEO of Rigby Group said: “The West Midlands is a region that has an impressive tech sector and a thriving small business landscape - put those together and places like Birmingham and Coventry become hubs of innovation and creativity.
“SCC, my family’s cornerstone technology business, is a global business but it remains headquartered in the West Midlands. We’ve never forgotten our roots and we are proud supporters of everything the One To Win competition and TechWM are looking to achieve for our home region.”
The One to Win competition is taking place at Enterprise Wharf, Holt St at TechWM tomorrow, Wednesday 23 October with the winner scheduled to be announced Friday 25 October at the closing event of Birmingham Tech Week - Black Tie Dinner & Tech Awards, hosted at the ICC.
Pictured (L-R): Yiannis Maos MBE (TechWM), Fred Soneya (Haatch), Kimberley Leary (TechWM), Steve Rigby (The Rigby Group), Rupert Lyle (Midven) and Scott Weavers-Wright OBE (Haatch)
