Convene
We bring the ecosystem into the same room – founders, startups, industry, universities and investors – through communities, sector roundtables and a selection of events across the region.
The industry voice for East Midlands tech
The UK's most underrated tech region. That ends here.
TechEM is the independent industry voice for the region's tech sector. Convening founders, scale-ups, universities, industry and policymakers and amplifying one of the country's most overlooked tech economies.
- #1
- fastest-growing tech ecosystem in the UK
- 75k
- working in the region's 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 make that advantage visible. We exist to make their scale visible, their businesses connected, and the region's impact impossible to overlook.
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 & growth support
Investment-readiness, growth and the path to customers and capital.
Find your community
Built in Notts, Built in Derby and our community event partners – free to join.
Reach the region's industries
Bridge the gap between your tech and the global industry that needs it, pharma, aerospace, manufacturing, space.
Three things, done well.
Research
We publish the authority on East Midlands tech: the annual East Midlands Tech Review and AI Skills Gap Report, read where regional decisions get made.
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 & data
Lincolnshire
Agri-tech & robotics
Derby
Aerospace & energy
Leicester
Space
Loughborough · Sports tech
EM Airport · Logistics
Northampton · Motorsport
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 & Earth observation
One of the UK's largest space clusters, satellite design through to downstream data and applications.
Lincolnshire
Agri-tech & robotics
Where AI, robotics and autonomy meet food and farming at national scale.
Derby
Aerospace, propulsion & clean energy
From jet engines to small modular reactors and the UK's rail capital.
Nottingham
Life sciences & data
Global pharma and the data economy, side by side.
And across the region...
- Loughborough · sports tech & science
- Northamptonshire · motorsport & high-performance engineering
- Advanced manufacturing · Toyota, JCB
- Logistics · EM Airport, the UK's largest pure-cargo hub
- Clean energy & net zero · East Midlands Freeport
The tech serving these clusters – clinical-trial software, agri-robotics, digital twins, satellite data, predictive maintenance, regulated AI – has what no other region replicates: proximity to global industry. We make that advantage visible.
The evidence behind the region.
Inaugural edition, 2026
East Midlands Tech Review
The definitive annual picture of the region's tech economy – its scale, sectors and trajectory.
Inaugural edition, 2026
AI Skills Gap Report
Where the region's AI skills shortfall is — and what employers, universities and policymakers should do about it.
Eight seats. One region's tech future.
Founding Patrons fund the independent voice the East Midlands tech sector has never had. Eight seats only – for a defining role in the region's tech agenda, a seat at the Founding Patron Forum, and first sight of the research that shapes policy.
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Partners
Universities, industry bodies and communities delivering the region's tech agenda alongside us.
Supported by
Organisations backing the independent voice for East Midlands tech.
