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The Welsh Tech ecosystem, its challenges and opportunities March 2023 Contents Authors ………….……………….…………………………….…….……………………….About Coadec ………….……………….…………………………….…….………..Acknowledgements ………….……………….………………………………Foreword from Mark John …….……………….…………………….About this Report ………….……………….…………………………….………Introduction ………….……………….…………………………….…….…………….Where We Are Now ………….……………….………………………………Wales Startup Geography at a Glance ………….…..Startup Sectors Wales Already Excels At …………Challenges for Welsh Startups ………….………………………333456781013 Authors Dom HallasExecutive Director Elis ThomasWales Policy Lead Frances LasokHead of Talent & Skills About Coadec The Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) is an independent advocacy group that serves as the policy Coadec was founded in 2010 by Mike Butcher, Editor-at-Large of technology news publisher TechCrunch,and Jeff Lynn, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of online investment platform Seedrs. Wefight for a policy environment that enables early-stage British tech companies to grow, scale andcompete globally. We have over 2000 startups in our network and have been instrumental in buildingproactive coalitions of businesses and investors on issues that are integral to the health of the UK’s startup We represent the startup community on the Government’s Digital Economy Council, and the UK on the board Acknowledgements We’re extremely grateful to the members of the startup community, investment community, localgovernment community and other stakeholders for their time in contributing to this report. We would alsolike to express a special thanks to Mark John and Tramshed Tech, whose dedication to and passion for the Foreword The importance of technology startups in transforming not just the economy but our entire society hasbecome undeniable over the past few years. Despite the challenges of Covid, Wales’ continued growth as a At Tramshed Tech, we have had the privilege of being part of this exciting and dynamic ecosystem growth.From our headquarters in Cardiff - and across our other sites in South Wales - we have been able to build athriving community of entrepreneurs, investors, startups and scaleups, all of whom are dedicated to driving Despite the current, extremely challengingfinancial climate, Welsh innovation has shown itself to beremarkably resilient. And it is so important that we keep up this momentum that we have created, as theinnovative approach of tech startups plays an ever-increasing role across the economy and society as a Over the last decade we’ve seen pioneering Welsh techfirms, from early-stage SME’s and fast-growth scalingcompanies, to established primes and enterprise organisations, gather momentum until they became a tidalwave. This broad range of entrepreneurial talent has set us on a transformative course, establishing tech But no ecosystem is perfect and Wales is no exception. There are certainly still gaps in the Welsh techecosystem, most notably in funding and access tofinance (and investment) and in access to technical skills But this is improving. We see thisfirst-hand with the quality and scope of our business incubators andaccelerators, providing access to growthfinance and investment, as well as in the increasing strategic To this end, we’ve been very happy to play a supporting role in Coadec’s breakout Welsh report, by offeringa key platform for them to undertake this work at our office in Cardiff, and by offering introductions and Wales is well positioned for a bright future, if barriers to growth are addressed. That’s why we welcomefuture research to help us understand how best to further our tech ecosystem here, recognising both its Mark JohnTramshed Tech About This Report Wales was a pioneer in thefirst industrial revolution - now its vibrant startup ecosystem is poised to do the Wales is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the UK’s wider tech success, including having an already thrivingstartup ecosystem, supportive infrastructure, affordable living and a growing economy. High growth startupsand scaleups in Wales are attracting record levels of investment while Beauhurst's most recent report into I spent over a year conducting over 100 interviews with members of Wales’ startup ecosystem, includingfounders, investors, academics and business leaders. I am extremely grateful to all of them for giving me What follows is a snapshot of an ecosystem influx: the Welsh startup scene has its challenges, as well asenormous potential. This report explores the landscape of Wales’s diverse tech ecosystem, reflecting onwhere founders see our strengths and barriers to overcome, as well as setting out where we think the The founders I spoke to would all tell you that Wales is a fantastic place to start a tech company, but wehave some catching up to do if we are to fulfil our true potential. The success of Wales’ future tech ecosystemswon’t rely on a single organisation or government department, but instead on a wider strategy in w