Twenty tech businesses across the West Midlands are set to share in almost £500,000 in new funding to help them launch.
SuperTech, the West Midlands professional and business services technology partnership, has secured £480,000 from the Government's £220 million UK Community Renewal Fund.
The successful bid will see 20 new businesses over the coming year using so-called no-code technology and at no cost to the founders through a ‘pre-accelerator' programme.
It is open to entrepreneurs within the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
No-code is a development platform which allows programmers and non-programmers to create software through new routes instead of traditional computer programming.
Last June, five new businesses were developed via a programme jointly funded by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and delivery partner Million Labs.
SuperTech's executive lead Hilary-Smyth-Allen said: "Too many good ideas don't progress because the costs, risks and speed to market of traditional technology builds make the barriers too high.
"Harnessing the power of no-code development, minimum viable products, which are needed to prove concepts and raise finance, are now within reach for more people than ever before.
"We're keen to hear from founders with an idea, ideally related to the professional and business services sector."
Jof Walters, founder of technology partner Million Labs, added: "No-code and low-code have been hugely democratising, opening up new product and service development to more people than ever before, no matter their economic background or connections.
"Of the hundreds of founders we've supported to date, we can see the impact of widening participation be that by age, race or gender."
