How Indian Tech Firms Can Accelerate Growth In The West Midlands
The West Midlands delegation’s trip to India has uncovered some exciting opportunities for collaboration across the world of Creative, Digital & Technology, ranging across various sectors including 5G and Telecoms, Immersive Technology and TV production. With India’s technology industry growing at a staggering rate of 15.5% and the West Midlands – the UK’s fastest-growing tech sector – being considered a UK leader in emerging technologies, there was always going to be plenty to discuss during West Midlands Growth Company’s Creative, Digital & Technology roundtable event in Mumbai.
Influential decision-makers from India’s tech industry joined representatives from the West Midlands tech sector for a fascinating discussion about the current market challenges and how closer collaboration could yield exciting, transformative solutions. Led by Councillor Ian Brookfield, Portfolio Lead for Economy and Innovation at West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), and chaired by Deepak Mukhi at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the roundtable was attended by over 20 tech experts from companies including Kagool, Infinity Labs, Bugendai Tech Pvt Ltd and Graphiti Multimedia.
The West Midlands: A UK leader in emerging technologies
James Turner, Head of Sector Marketing at West Midlands Growth Company, inspired idea-generation around the table by introducing the region’s £15.3bn Creative, Digital & Technology sector. From the region’s position as the leading UK region for emerging technologies outside of London to its status at the centre of UK games production, it was made immediately clear to delegates that there is a wealth of opportunity for collaboration and investment between Indian tech firms and the West Midlands.
The group heard how the region is home to the UK’s only 5G multi-city testbed; a key asset playing an integral role in the development of cutting-edge products and services across multiple sectors including CreaTech, Data-Driven Healthcare and Future Mobility. As a result, an increasing number of international companies gravitate to the West Midlands world-class R&D infrastructure – which consists of more than 100 accelerators and incubators – to design, prototype and commercialise next-generation technologies.
As the roundtable commenced, the group heard from high-profile panellists from both the West Midlands and Indian tech sectors, with participants discussing the various strengths of each and the opportunities available for both parties. Clare Golby, Head of Public Affairs at Kagool, described the benefits derived from the unrivalled connectivity the West Midlands offers in the UK, with their headquarters in Coventry enabling the team to quickly access their regional counterparts and global offices, including multiple locations in India including Hyderabad. This has been critical to the company’s rapid growth, going from 15 employees to 600 around the world.
Prashant Pillai, Managing Director of Cyber Quarter, the Midlands centre for cyber security, also emphasised the opportunities available for Indian companies in the West Midlands in developing state-of-the-art cyber security capabilities, utilising the West Midlands world-class expertise in this sector.
How Indian firms can accelerate their growth in the West Midlands - the UK’s fastest growing Tech Sector
Having explored the West Midlands’ tech sector’s value proposition in more detail, the table discussed opportunities for two-way investment and collaboration between tech firms in the West Midlands and India. The region’s expertise in 5G was examined as a particular source of collaborative opportunities, with discussions around the potential it offers for new and dynamic opportunities across the mobile and private network sectors. It’s not just telecoms where 5G can have a significant impact. The West Midlands is home to the UK’s first Future Mobility sector, so applications involving Connected Autonomous Vehicles can be trialled easily, while WM5G’s Connected Ambulance Trial, which encompassed the UK’s first remote-controlled ultrasound scan over a public 5G network, demonstrates the endless possibilities available for Indian companies keen to utilise this infrastructure.
Discussions also centred around the West Midlands CreaTech and TV Production sectors, with conversation focusing on the BBC’s recent decision to build a purpose-built studio in Birmingham’s Creative Quarter – Digbeth. The area, which also hosts popular locations such as The Custard Factory, is home to a wealth of creative companies across the TV and Film production, Immersive Tech, Digital Marketing and Gaming sectors. This tight-knit, cutting-edge tech community, combined with major regional hubs such as Bruntwood’s Innovation Birmingham, Birmingham City University’s STEAMhouse and 1 Mill Street in Leamington Spa, offers Indian companies the ideal space and networking infrastructure to establish and accelerate their growth in the United Kingdom.
A particularly interesting point was also made about how Indian firms can use the West Midlands world-leading R&D infrastructure to develop next-generation tech solutions before using the Indian market to test the response from their target demographics.
Global Growth Programme: Helping Indian tech firms establish in the UK
As discussions progressed, talk turned to the West Midlands Global Growth Programme – a state-of-the-art fully-funded soft-landing package for international companies seeking to establish and accelerate their growth in the UK.
Abhijit Aphale, Growth and Strategy Officer at Infinity Labs, was present at the roundtable discussion and was able to provide the group with a first-hand account of his company’s experience on the Global Growth Programme. The business has acquired nine months of free desk space at Innovation Birmingham – one of the leading digital tech campuses in the West Midlands – and has quickly integrated into the region’s thriving tech community. West Midlands Growth Company has played an integral role in facilitating introductions between Infinity Labs and key industry R&D partners such as WM5G, as well as other telecoms companies they could partner with in-region. This has helped open new relationships and collaborations for Infinity Labs, subsequently developing exciting growth opportunities.
Alongside the comprehensive peer-to-peer networking, knowledge transfer opportunities and facilitated connections to innovation hubs, business networks and universities across the West Midlands, Indian companies joining the Global Growth Programme can access comprehensive UK company set-up, market entry and innovation services support, enabling them to quickly establish and integrate themselves as a key component of the West Midlands tech community.
An exciting future for two-way collaboration and investment
There was clearly a common consensus that there is an abundance of opportunities available for two-way collaboration and investment between tech companies in the West Midlands and India. The region offers Indian organisations established, world-class R&D infrastructure through which they can design, prototype and commercialise next-generation technologies, as well as a large-end client base of engineering firms, manufacturers and professional services companies to collaborate with and sell to. The region’s superb talent pool of 65,000 highly-skilled tech specialists and diverse population – which is made up of 190 nationalities – will give confidence to Indian investors that the West Midlands can serve as an ideal location for an international tech hub serving the global community.
