AI businesses in Manchester are "hungry for growth" and are hunting capital as the city looks to keep growing as a tech hub, the team behind a key tech list says.
The 2024 Greater Manchester Tech Climbers list was launched this week, with 17 firms listed and eight names as Ones to Watch. Organisers said that product-led AI firms made up 77% of all entries to the list, marking the first year it was dominated by AI.
Three quarters of those AI firms were looking for more growth funding – and of those firms, 81% were confident they would get the finance they needed to grow. But the region has already attracted its share of AI funding, with some 69% of the region’s AI firms already in receipt of at least some support.
Some of included digital healthcare specialists, Decently, who recently closed their pre-seed investment round, AI education assistant, TeachMateAI, and AI-powered content creation tool Vulse.
Anna Heyes, founder of Tech Climbers and CEO at Active Profile, said: “It’s our second year in Manchester with Tech Climbers, and you can feel how the ecosystem is evolving both through the entries we’ve received, as well as the conversations on our panels during our events.
“As is the case globally, but interesting to see in the Greater Manchester ecosystem, AI is dominating our list, contributing greatly to the region’s investment landscape. AI is driving local talent into the area through job creation and in so many cases shown through our entries, helping to solve social and environmental challenges as a force for good.”
She added: "I look forward to seeing where we go in 2025."
In June, SAS Ƶ named Manchester as the Ƶ’s most AI-ready city , with Salford in third place. from global analytics platform SAS measures cities on seven criteria including the number of AI companies, the number of AI jobs being advertised, and the value of InnovateƵ funding granted in each area.
Manchester topped the table "due to having the highest amount of AI-related companies in the city, along with the most hackathons, and a large volume of AI-related jobs within a five-mile radius". SAS also highlighted Manchester United's partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University on AI data analysis.
Salford's high ranking was helped by the fact that over £100 million has been awarded to businesses in Salford from Innovate Ƶ. Cambridge and Oxford fell to positions nine and 16 respectively.
The city region is also seeing infrastructure investment, with Kao Data this year in Stockport.
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