In recent years, Birmingham has emerged as one of the most influential startup hubs in the UK. This development is largely due to its reliable transport networks, rich supply chain, diverse community and pool of talent from five universities in the city.
Last year, Birmingham saw a rapid record level in venture capital investment. This rapid growth is mainly due to a mega-round raised by Conigital, an automation vehicle startup, which is one of the largest funding rounds outside of London this year.
While London might be more popular for entrepreneurs to start a company, Birmingham has created its own successful startup over the years. In 2023, Birmingham raised $1.7 billion in total funding for startups, showing great trust from investors in the city.
So, whether you are a business owner, aspiring entrepreneur, or interested in working in one of Birmingham’s startups, here is a list of the fastest-growing startups founded in the city.
Conigital
Founders: Don-Paul Dhaliwal
Founded year: 2016
Funding: £500M (€584.6M)
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Cognigital is a UK government startup headquartered in Birmingham that retrofits and custom-builds driverless vehicles for industrial and commercial fleets for various use cases.
The company combines remote monitoring and teleoperation with a hybrid approach involving explainable AI and simulation, ensuring scalability and fast iteration for the vehicles.
Cognigital received a groundbreaking investment worth £500M (€584.6M) in Series A+ funding last year. This investment makes it the highest-funded driverless vehicle startup in the UK and Europe.
ThinCats
Founders: Christopher Rothschild and Kevin Caley
Founded year: 2010
Funding: £700M (€818.6M)
Hiring: No
ThinCats is a leading alternative finance provider startup that aims to support min-sized SMEs across the UK. It aims to solve the struggle to access long-term funding commonly faced by mid-sized companies.
The finance startup offers both bespoke and flexible funding solutions from £1M (€1.2M)up to £15M (€17.5M)for mid-sized UK SMEs to grow organically and/or through acquisition.
ThinCats secured £700M (€818.6M) in funding last year from Citi and Barclays’ joint investment. The funding was made through the British Business Bank’s ENABLE Guarantee programme, making ThinCat one of the largest funding lines with a non-bank-lender.Â
Modo Energy
Founder(s): Quentin Scrimshire and Tim Overton
Founded year: 2019
Funding: €13.6M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Modo Energy is a prominent startup in the UK battery energy storage market. The company aims to support businesses in developing, financing, and operating the future energy system.
Modo Energy offers essential insights for owners and operators of renewable energy assets, especially grid-scale battery storage systems, to navigate the evolving energy market landscape effectively.
Last year, Modo Energy received significant funding of €13.6M in Series A to expand its renewable energy data analytics services.
Clarilis
Founder(s): James Quinn and Kevin Quinn
Founded year: 2015
Funding: £6M (€1.9M)
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Clarilis is a legal tech company based in Birmingham that helps law firms, and in-house legal teams automate complex legal document suites. The company partners with 30 of the top 100 UK law firms and has customers from all over the world.
The company was founded by brothers from West Midlands in 2015. The company claims to help save 90 per cent of the time required to draft complex legal documents.
The startup secured £6M (€1.9M) funding in a Series B round. The investment comes from Mercia Asset Management, Northern VCTs, an existing investor and Gresham House Ventures.Â
Graide
Founder(s): Manjinder Kainth and Robert Stanyon
Founded year: 2019
Funding: £1.6M (€1.9M)
Hiring: No
Graide is an AI-powered feedback and assessment platform based in Birmingham. The platform is targeted at teachers, tutors, or lecturers to reduce their workload and increase the amount of feedback students receive.
The AI-assisted platform can help educators give tailored feedback for maths, short texts, and essays. The assignments can be either delivered digitally or on paper/scans.
The education tech startup secured £1.6M (€1.9M) investment to expand its operations within the UK and explore new areas like the US and Canada. The funding comes from XTX Ventures, alongside existing investors like Mercia Ventures, SFC Capital, and various private investors.
Adaptavate
Founder(s): Tom Robinson
Founded year: 2014
Funding: £2.2M (€2.6M)
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Adaptavate is a raw materials company that provides innovative construction products. The Birmingham-based company focused on low-emission materials that can help decarbonise the construction industry.
One of the company’s products is Breathaboard, a plasterboard that absorbs vapour and moisture in homes. This product allows construction firms to use eco-friendly materials and create healthy and durable buildings.
Adaptavate secured an investment of £2.2M (€2.6M) to scale up the production of Breathaboard. The investment round was led by Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2) and Counteract.
Nylahs Nat
Founder(s): Kameese Davis
Founded year: 2011
Funding: £530K (€617K)
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Nylah Naturals is an Afro hair care startup founded by Kameese Davis in 2011. Davis was inspired to establish the company by her daughter’s textured hair issues, aiming to create a platform to provide a healthy and effective hair care solution for her.
Nylahs Naturals collaborated with cosmetic scientists and trichologists to develop its products. The company offers hair care that can elevate textured hair concerns such as dryness, breakage, excess shedding, hair loss, dandruff, etc.
The award-winning company secured £530K (€617K) seed round that Midven leads.
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/7-fast-growing-birmingham-tech-startups-in-2024/
