MediaCityUK launches Smart City testbed with UP Ventures

Corporate technology accelerator, UP Ventures Group, has entered into partnership with the government’s Connected Places Catapult to create a programme for nurturing smart city solutions at MediaCityUK in Salford.

Focusing on people-centred technology, especially in the current health and economic climate, the Smart City Innovation Testbed aims to find ground-breaking technology that will positively improve the quality of life for people and businesses in a post pandemic world.

The programme is aimed at UK based startups and scaleups which have market-ready products and services that aspire to help people live, work, play and learn in new innovative ways.

Steven Thomas, UP Ventures managing partner, said: “Our mission with this programme is to find and enable the technologies that can have a profoundly positive impact on citizens and the places that they live and work. Our team and partners are hugely passionate about technology and how it can help people and businesses thrive again in such difficult times.”

The programme will take place from January 2021 and last 12 weeks; it will give successful candidates access to a unique testbed, including MediaCityUK’s world-leading technology infrastructure, and provide opportunities to pilot innovations within a real-life setting. As well as access to online learning and dynamic workshops, candidates will be supported by talented technologists, industry experts, dedicated coaches and investors drawn from UP’s international network.

Stephen Wild, managing director of MediaCityUK, said: “Our world is rapidly evolving and supporting an important accelerator programme such as this means we’re able to invest in the talent who can make a positive difference to the way we lead our lives in a post-Covid world. MediaCityUK is very much a living ‘Smart City’ laboratory where we will be the springboard for some of the greatest innovations of our time and we very much want these talented technologists to succeed and grow within the MediaCityUK community.”

Jon Kirkpatrick, chief operating officer at Connected Places Catapult, said: “We are excited to be taking part in this testbed programme and branching out further across the country to help SMEs and innovators bring their projects to fruition. This is a great opportunity to improve the livelihood of the nation with exciting technology solutions.”

• The programme is fully funded and there is no equity exchange with any partner. Applications are now open and will close on 23 October. For more information and to submit an application visit the UP Ventures website.