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Brighton & Hove
Brighton & Hove has grown into one of the UK’s most successful digital technology clusters. The region has one of the highest concentrations of digital companies of any analysed and there is a strong sense of community with 84% of companies stating they feel part of a cluster.
This close-knit community ethos has fostered by a range of tech conferences and events in the area in recent times – Develop:Brighton, d-Construct and the Brighton Digital Festival, to name just a few.
With a number of great co-working spaces like The Skiff (the largest co-working space south of London), support networks such as Wired Sussex and the Brighton Farm, it is no wonder there was a 91% increase in new digital companies incorporated in Brighton & Hove between 2010-13.
Brighton’s startup scene is home to some great examples of tech companies, such as Clearleft (UX consultancy), Spannerworks (acquired by iCrossing) and Brandwatch (analytics firm), who recently took over London-based PeerIndex for £10 million.
Anna Lewis, CEO of Valobox, a pay as you go book reading service, comments, “As a digital company you can be based anywhere. Brighton is easy to get into London from, but you can also live and work centrally, and there’s a great network of companies to connect with.”
Support:
- The Brighton Fuse project supports the development of processes and policies which see value in connecting cultural and creative endeavour with technological activity
- Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce – develops new business opportunities through offering networking and business advice
- The Fusebox, a studio space for innovators
- Brighton Brains – Brings together the creative and digital communities of Brighton and Hove with the academic and student communities of local universities and colleges
- Wired Sussex – a Brighton based membership organisation set up to support the local digital industry
- LEP (Coast to Capital) – run a business navigator service
Funding:
- Coast 2 Capital has partnered with Greater Brighton City Region to offer grants from £5,000 up to £250,000 for small and medium firms that can prove investment in them will further job creation
- Finance South East supports start-ups and growing businesses
Brilliant Noise is a digital strategy and innovation agency. It pilots and scales new approaches to marketing and business that create long-term customer value, aiming to change the way people work.
Brandwatch is a social media monitoring and analytics technology platform. It gathers online conversations daily, providing clients with the tools to analyse them and make decisions based on data.
Crunch is an online accountancy service which helps freelancers, contractors and small businesses take control of their finances. A combination of qualified accountants, account managers and software.
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