Smart-City firms announced for Export Academy to Asia-Pacific
30 British tech companies to enrol in new Tech Export Academy programme this week
Sep 8, Department for International Trade and Graham Stuart MP: 30 British tech companies have today been announced as the first participants in the Department for International Trade’s (DIT) new Tech Export Academy programme that will begin this week.
The new Academy was launched in June 2020 at London Tech Week Connects by Secretary of State Liz Truss. It will see the first 2 cohorts of smart city tech firms participate in a 9-month programme that will provide a package of support to help them expand and grow their business in the Asia Pacific region.
108 companies applied for the programme across smart cities capabilities, from smart mobility and infrastructure to smart buildings and cybersecurity. An independent panel selected the successful companies based on the strengths of their products and services, their focus on exporting to the Asia-Pacific region and their commitment to diversity and inclusion, a key priority for DIT and the tech sector more widely. The 30 successful companies are based across all 4 nations of the UK.
The panel consisted of DIT’s Chief Scientific Adviser Dr Mike Short, Oriel Petry (Director of the Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Directorate), Colin Sinclair (CEO of the Knowledge Quarter in Liverpool) and Jane Morrison-Ross (CEO at tech trade body ScotlandIS).
The programme is being supported by the following companies: PWC, Linklaters, Deloitte, KPMG, BDO, Taylor Wessing, EY, HSBC, Santander Grant Thornton and Clifford Chance. These partner companies will host bespoke sessions with the cohorts on regulatory, tax, intellectual property and legal issues in the Asia Pacific region.
The programme will also include opportunities for the businesses to meet investors, undertake pitch training and learn about UK Export Finance support as well as participate in virtual trade missions to the Asia-Pacific region.
In light of the growing relationship between DIT and the Thai Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, which oversees smart cities development in the country, there will be an opportunity for the companies to attend a dedicated trade mission to Thailand next year. During the mission, the companies will showcase their expertise, products and services to the Thai market.
The names of the chosen tech firms were revealed in a speech by the Minister for Exports Graham Stuart MP at London Tech Week 2020.
Programme applicants:
Cohort 1: Avalon
Alchera Technologies
ASH Projects & Contracts Ltd
Awen Collective
Beringar
Cascoda
Crowdvision
Filament
Humanising Autonomy
Informed Solutions
Masabi
ProtectBox
Symphonic Software
Unmanned Life
Yoti
Zapinamo
Cohort 2: Camelot
Conigital Ltd
Datactics
Emu Analytics
Intercede
Ovon Technology
See.Sense
Sensat Surveying Limited
Space Syntax
Sycous Limited
Telensa Systems Pty Ltd
UrbanTide
UtterBerry
Vivacity Labs
Vortex IoT Ltd
Vucity Limited
