Innovate UK in the North East: what I found when I asked the questions

Earlier this year, I completed the impact evaluation for the Innovate UK North East Digital Technologies Launchpad programme, commissioned by UMi. Over several months, I spoke with more than 50 funded digital businesses across the region — from pre-seed startups through to profitable, growing companies.

As co-founder of Women in Tech North East, I've also had a front row seat to how the experience of building and funding a business differs depending on who you are. That shapes how I listen, and what I notice.

This is what I took away from those conversations.

The region has moved on

The North East's digital sector looks different to how it did in mid-2024. More businesses have come through Innovate UK for the first time, and a good number have gone on to win contracts, open new markets and raise follow-on funding. The AI Growth Zone announcement has added national weight to what's been happening on the ground. The ecosystem feels more joined up than it did two years ago, and founders are thinking more deliberately about growth rather than just month-to-month survival.

One shift that's particularly noticeable, and close to my heart, is the growing visibility of female founders. Women-led businesses are coming through innovation programmes in greater numbers, taking on leadership roles and building in areas like healthtech, edtech and impact-driven platforms. Programmes like Athena Labs have played a real part in that — not just offering workshops, but building peer communities where founders can ask the questions that don't get asked in bigger rooms.

There's still a significant gap when it comes to equity funding, and that hasn't closed. But the direction of travel is better than it was. That said, the day-to-day friction hasn't gone away. Navigating the funding landscape is still genuinely confusing for a lot of businesses. Schemes with different rules, different timelines, different application processes — unless you know the right people, it's easy to miss opportunities or burn time chasing the wrong ones.

The pattern I kept hearing

Across nearly every conversation, one thing stood out. Businesses were confident about what they'd built. They were much less confident about how to take it to market.

Which customers do we go after first? How do we position this? What does a realistic route to revenue look like? These are the questions that kept coming up. Not because founders weren't capable of answering them, but because Innovate UK funding doesn't come with a go-to-market strategy attached. That part is left to the business to figure out, usually while also building the product, managing a small team and keeping an eye on cashflow.

It's the gap I see most often when working with funded businesses, and it's the one that tends to slow commercial progress the most.

What funded businesses need next

Innovation support in the North East has strengthened. But commercialisation support — sales, pricing, messaging, routes to market — is still harder to access. Businesses come out of programmes in a better position than they went in, but turning that into actual customers and revenue requires a different kind of help.

If you've received Innovate UK funding and go-to-market is the bit keeping you up at night, that's exactly what Strategy in a Day is designed for. Two focused half-days, a clear 90-day action plan, and a longer-term commercial direction — delivered within a week.

About the author

Kathryn Wharton is the founder of KLW Marketing. She was commissioned by UMi to deliver the impact evaluation for the Innovate UK North East Digital Technologies Launchpad programme in 2025-26. Get in touch if you'd like to talk about marketing support for your Innovate UK funded business.