Story by
Martin SFP Bryant
FounderMartin Bryant is founder of Big Revolution, where he helps tech companies refine their proposition and positioning, and develops high-qualit Martin Bryant is founder of Big Revolution, where he helps tech companies refine their proposition and positioning, and develops high-quality, compelling content for them. He previously served in several roles at TNW, including Editor-in-Chief. He left the company in April 2016 for pastures new.
London is the place European startups to go for attention and VC money if they don’t have the resources to make the leap to Silicon Valley, but is the British startup scene worth bothering with outside the capital?
There are certainly pockets of enterprising internet companies based in cities like Newcastle and Dundee. Then there’s Manchester. In many ways England’s ‘second city’, Manchester hasn’t had the Last.fm and Dopplr style success stories that London can shout about but there is still a devoted cluster of companies based around the city.
Mike Butcher over at TechCrunch Europe recently reported that angel investor network Envestors was planning to launch in Manchester. Butcher questioned whether Manchester was the right place to look for startup action. Well, here at The Next Web we’re going to find out.
From today we are an official media partner of North West Startup 2.0, the organisation that supports startups in the Manchester area. We’ll be attending events over the coming months and reporting back on the startups that catch our eye.
For those of you in Manchester, the next North West Startup 2.0 event is tonight and will be taking a look at the Freemium model and how to convert ‘users’ into ‘customers’. Full details can be found here.
On a personal note, as a resident of Manchester I’d say that it’s a city full of creative people with incredible ideas. That said, the city has a heritage of doing things for love over money. Just look at the story of Factory Records for an example of a huge success that was a financial disaster.
Manchester’s had a number of science and technology ‘firsts’, including the birth of the modern computer 51 years ago but it’s yet to have a significant tech startup success. Hopefully Envestors’ Manchester launch will encourage the city’s tech innovators to push even harder for the breakthrough.
Keep reading over the coming months as we profile the best startups in the region. Of course, we don’t just want to hear from startups in Manchester. We regularly profile companies from around the world so wherever you are, get in touch at [email protected]
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