Kollider, based in Sheffield’s Castle House, opened in April as a major tech hub. General Manager, Katie Taylor, tells unLTD how the Kollider Incubator powered by Barclays Eagle Labs is helping members tap into the support they need to scale and grow
The Kollider Incubator powered by Barclays Eagle Labs, is part of a carefully curated ecosystem encourage collaboration and actively engage the regions fast developing tech and digital community. The vision has always been to drive ambition within Sheffield and build an engine for future economic growth. Under the same roof you’ll find urban dining and retail experience, Kommune, Ko:Host events spaces, The National Videogame Museum, WANdisco’s new HQ, a 6000 sq ft office space which is currently in market, plus Kollider Studios due to launch in 2020. Each space in the building has been designed to play a part in this social innovation hub, and over the last eight
months it’s safe to say the building has come alive and firmly put Castlegate back on the map. Supporting businesses to scale and grow It’s a known fact that starting a business can be challenging and quite lonely at times. A key part of the Kollider vision aimed to tackle this and create a space to allow businesses to flourish. Drawing on its expertise and that of national partner, Barclays Eagle Labs, the team at the Kollider Incubator have curated a programme of activity that allows members to tap into the support they need to scale and grow. Benefits include one-toone business and technical mentoring, skills workshops, personalised financial health
checks, access to investment opportunities, and even support with registering patents and protecting your IP. Members also have access to a diverse range of events throughout the wider ecosystem in Castle House. The event spaces in Kollider’s venue, Ko:Host, have hosted a variety of events from live theatre, stand-up comedy, yoga, fashion shows, investment seminars, national conferences and digital festivals. In the pipeline While Kollider continues to support start-ups and entrepreneurs working across all areas of tech, there is clear momentum building within particular industry subsets. In the pipeline for 2020 it will start to see the emergence
of regular Hackathons, which will bring together big named brands alongside smart, ambitious entrepreneurs. The idea is to provide a testing ground to address untapped market demand in a variety of industries including LawTech, Gaming and Industrial Tech. How you can get involved If you’re an entrepreneur or start-up working within digital or tech and you’d like to explore the possibilities and benefits of working from the incubator, Kollider is currently offering a week free trial throughout December and January. To qualify, businesses simply need to submit their business idea or plan. More information can be found at www.kollider.co
