Accelerating Indian Tech Growth in the UK
The strength and history of India’s relationship with the West Midlands is unique.
We have deep economic and social ties that offer superb opportunities for two-way, sustainable growth.
The West Midlands’ world-class business ecosystem has proved an attractive value proposition to Indian investors, outperforming all UK regions other than the South-East with 76 investments totalling £3.5bn. So, with India’s technology industry turning over $227bn and growing at a rate of 15.5%, why are major Indian technology companies such as Microland, India’s leading digital IT Transformation Company, and Infosys BPM, a global business process management subsidiary of Infosys Ltd, being attracted to the West Midlands’ thriving tech sector?
Accelerating Growth for Indian Tech Start-Ups & Scale-Ups
The West Midlands is the UK’s fastest growing technology cluster and is considered a UK leader in emerging technologies, with more companies than any other UK region outside of London. As the rapid growth of Indian tech start-ups and scale-ups continues to gather pace, the West Midlands offers a world-class location for these companies to enter the UK market and expand into Europe.
With an established talent pool of 65,000 highly skilled tech professionals set to double by 2025, regional strengths in Software Development, Data Science Analytics and SAP Consultancy and a globally recognised R&D network of universities, accelerators and incubators, Indian companies can develop, prototype and commercialise next-generation tech products and services.
Global Growth Programme
Indian tech start-ups and companies looking to scale-up their growth can enter the UK market via the innovative West Midlands Global Growth Programme; a comprehensive and fully funded soft landing package for innovative and ambitious international businesses establishing in the UK.
The Heart of Europe’s Biggest Gaming Market
Established government initiatives such as Telengana’s “IMAGE Policy” for Animation and Gaming is driving huge growth in the Indian gaming market, with the sector expected to achieve $5bn GVA by 2025.
As Telengana – and indeed India as a whole – strives to position itself as a global strategic hub, there is a wealth of opportunities for Indian companies to pursue innovative R&D opportunities in the West Midlands; the region responsible for 25% of the output from a UK games market that is the largest in Europe and the sixth biggest worldwide.
Indian gaming companies can take advantage of the West Midlands’ cutting-edge strengths in VR, AR, AI and Cyber-Security – as well as the region’s status as the UK’s only 5G multi-city testbed – to develop and prototype exciting new gaming products and technologies.
A Vibrant Hub of Healthcare Innovation and Commercialisation
Research and development is a critical component of India’s digital healthcare strategy, with Hyderabad’s leading healthcare technology hub accounting for 30% of India’s Life Sciences revenue. The West Midlands offers Indian MedTech and Data-Driven Healthcare firms unrivalled access to R&D opportunities with globally respected institutions, such as the West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre and West Midlands Regional Genetics Laboratory – the largest genetics lab in the UK.
A World-Class Diagnostics offer
While India’s healthcare sector is growing rapidly, difficulties remain with accessing and effectively utilising data. Indian investors can benefit from the West Midlands’ world-class diagnostics offer, where they can access anonymised, integrated and digitised clinical data drawn from a demographically diverse – and non-transient – population of nearly five million patients. This provides Indian companies with unique opportunities across all aspects of data-driven genomics and digital-led diagnostics.
Next-Generation Innovation Partnerships
Indian companies have a rich history of collaboration with the West Midlands state-of-the-art innovation and digital ecosystem, working with the region’s universities, catapult centres, incubators and R&D institutions to make next-generation products and services commercially viable. The West Midlands’ globally renowned universities have a proud record of partnering with Indian organisations on shared challenges including net zero initiatives such as Electric Vehicles and Clean Energy, Smart Cities, VR, Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare and Industry 4.0.
The region’s wider innovation organisations are also experienced in collaborating with India through research grants and challenge funds, which have led to several jointly run projects harnessing next-generation technologies for real-world applications.
Accelerate Your Growth in The West Midlands
The demands of the Indian market and its rapidly growing tech scene align well with the West Midlands’ world-class tech sector, providing exciting opportunities to grow two-way trade and collaborate on next-generation technologies. Whether it’s the West Midlands’ booming gaming sector, expertise in IT services, substantial MedTech offering or thriving ProfTech supercluster, Indian businesses locating international offices in the region can quickly take advantage of top-tier R&D infrastructure and highly qualified talent to drive their growth to the next level.
Investors can draw on the region’s world-leading expertise in AI, VR, AR, Cyber Security and Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) to research, develop, prototype and commercialise exciting products and services for release worldwide. As well as the West Midlands’ exciting technology sector, Indian firms developing next-generation Industry 4.0 products and services can take advantage of the region’s rich heritage in advanced manufacturing, accessing a large end-client base of engineering firms pioneering state-of-the-art technologies in sectors including autonomous connected vehicles, future mobility and aerospace.
Setting up Microland’s offices in the West Midlands has facilitated a virtuous cycle of growth for our organisation. The success of our initial investment in 2018 cultivated the demand for a new Microland European operational centre, driven by the region’s thriving technology ecosystem and high-skilled talent pipeline.
Successful Investment in the West Midlands – Microland
India’s leading digital IT transformation company, Microland, is headquartered in Bengaluru, and first invested in the West Midlands in 2018. They further expanded their operations here in 2020. The move allowed Microland to serve its growing client base across Europe.
They worked with the experts at the West Midlands Growth Company to take advantage of the benefits that the West Midlands offers, and get the investment up and running as quickly as possible.
You can read about Microland’s investment in the West Midlands or hear from Nagaraja Kini himself below.
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