The UK's most underrated tech region. That ends here.

TechEM is the independent industry voice for the East Midlands tech sector. We exist to connect the region's tech community and make one of the UK's most overlooked tech economies impossible to ignore.

#1
fastest-growing tech ecosystem in the UK: 75k
working in the East Midlands tech sector: 130
university tech spin-outs across the region: 650+
active community members

#1
fastest-growing tech ecosystem in the UK: 75k
working in the East Midlands tech sector: 130
university tech spin-outs across the region: 650+
active community members

The East Midlands tech economy isn't built on hype, it's built on industry. Pharma in Nottingham. Aerospace in Derby. The UK's largest pure-cargo airport. Tens of thousands already work in tech here. We exist to make that scale visible, those businesses connected, and the region's impact undeniable.

19 November 2026 · Leicester

HER Pitch

Our high-impact pitch competition for the East Midlands' most promising female founders. Five finalist slots, a rapid-fire open mic, and an exclusive business growth package to be won. Applications are now open.

Find out more→

What’s in it for you?

I run a tech business

We help founders, scale-ups and SMEs grow where they already have an edge, alongside the region's industry.

Connect to the ecosystem

Meet founders, investors, corporate partners and universities across the East Midlands.

Scale-up and growth support

Get support with investment-readiness, growth and the path to customers and capital.

Find your community

Join our free events through Built in Notts and our community event partners.

Reach the region's industries

Reach the global industries that need your tech, from pharma and aerospace to manufacturing and space.

Three things done well.

Connect

We bring the ecosystem into the same room through our communities, sector roundtables and events across the region.

Research

We publish authoritative research on East Midlands tech, starting with the East Midlands Tech Review and AI Skills Gap Report, both due in 2026.

Influence

We bring outside eyes to the region, shaping the national and international conversation about East Midlands tech and giving grassroots founders and SMEs the exposure their work deserves.

Nottingham

Life sciences and data

Lincolnshire

Agri-tech and robotics

Derby

Aerospace and manufacturing

Leicester

Space

Loughborough · Sports tech

East Midlands Airport · Logistics

Northampton · Performance engineering

A region of clusters, not a single city.

East Midlands tech isn't one scene, it's a network of serious sector clusters, most of them invisible in the national tech story. That's the gap we exist to close.

Leicester

Space and Earth observation

One of the UK's largest space clusters, from satellite design through to downstream data and applications.

Lincolnshire

Agri-tech and robotics

Where AI, robotics and autonomy meet food and farming at national scale.

Derby

Aerospace & manufacturing

From jet engines to small modular reactors, and the UK's rail capital.

Nottingham

Life sciences and data

Global pharma and the data economy, side by side.

The evidence behind East Midlands tech.

Coming 2026

East Midlands Tech Review

The definitive annual picture of the East Midlands tech economy: its scale, sectors and trajectory.

Coming 2026

AI Skills Gap Report

Where the East Midlands AI skills shortfall is, and what employers, universities and policymakers should do about it.

Shape the future of East Midlands tech.

Founding Patrons fund the independent industry voice the East Midlands tech sector has never had. It's a defining role in the region's tech agenda: a seat at the Founding Patron Forum, first sight of the research that shapes policy, and your name behind the work to put the region on the map.