SuperTech drives technology-led professional services innovation, investment and commercial opportunity across the West Midlands
The West Midlands FinTech, PropTech and LawTech ecosystem has grown from 32 to 180 start-ups and scale-ups since 2020, with £1 million of private sector co-investment leveraged through SuperTech activities
Five years of focused activity to accelerate technology-led innovation in professional services is delivering tangible commercial and economic impact across the West Midlands, according to SuperTech WM’s Impact Report 2026, launched today.
Since 2020, the region’s professional services technology ecosystem has grown from 32 to 180 start-ups and scale-ups, comprising 100 FinTech, 59 PropTech and 21 LawTech businesses. Alongside that growth, SuperTech WM has built programmes and partnerships bringing together established businesses, innovators, universities, investors, regulators and policymakers.
The results include more than £1 million of private sector co-investment leveraged through SuperTech activities, five commercial deals with eight more in the pipeline, and more than 400 referrals brokered across the ecosystem.
SuperTech WM’s model is designed to turn conversations into collaborations, collaborations into pilots and pilots into commercial outcomes. That can be seen across its innovation programmes. The first LawTech Open Innovation Lab generated £1.60 of private co-investment for every £1 of public funding and resulted in a commercial deal. A second LawTech Open Innovation Lab on Legal AI programme generated £8.58 for every £1 of public funding, with 71% of innovators validating their propositions and at least five commercial conversations continuing.
SuperTech WM’s long-standing collaboration with BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK has also generated tangible outcomes. Innovation Lab participant Inicio AI raised £2.8m, including £1m of West Midlands investment as a direct result of its involvement. Inicio and another participant went on to become commercial partners of the bank.
Hilary Smyth-Allen, Chief Executive of SuperTech WM, said: “Five years ago, we could see the potential for the West Midlands to become a significant region for technology-led innovation in professional services. Our role has been to bring together the businesses, innovators, universities and policymakers needed to turn that potential into opportunity. We can now point to real impact: commercial deals, private sector investment, businesses accessing new customers and an ecosystem that has grown considerably. That growth is a collective achievement, but I am incredibly proud of the role SuperTech and our partners have played in creating the connections and conditions that enable innovation to happen. We have demonstrated what focused collaboration can deliver. Now the opportunity is to build on those foundations and increase the commercial and economic impact we can create for the West Midlands.”
Next Generation Services is now a top-five priority cluster in the West Midlands Local Growth Plan, with SuperTech WM recognised as a lead delivery partner to drive growth to 2030. National government investment has also been secured for the region through the Professional Business Service Hub as part of the Industrial Strategy implementation.
With the foundations in place, SuperTech WM is now calling on more businesses, universities, investors and partners to help scale that impact: investing in and participating in collaborative innovation, creating more opportunities for emerging businesses to test and scale solutions, and strengthening the West Midlands’ position as a leading destination for technology-led professional services innovation.
The SuperTech WM Impact Report 2026, available to download now, brings together the evidence from SuperTech WM’s first five years and sets out the opportunity ahead.