Innotech secures six-figure funding and finds new home in Leeds innovation hub

A data analysis firm has secured £160k funding and moved into a new base in a central Leeds innovation hub.

Innotech (Innotech Insights) secured the funding from Maven NPIF for expansion, product development and rollout as it found a new home in the University of Leeds’ innovation hub Nexus.

Founded in 2015 by Liam Wright, Innotech develops data collection and analysis platforms to monitor pedestrian movements.

Following seed investment from a private investor in 2017, the tech for the firm’s flagship product ‘Crowded’ was built and launched the following year.

Innotech founder Liam Wright commented: “Nexus is the natural home for us as we gear up for growth.

“Along with developing-cutting edge new products, we are also looking to expand our team. Being part of the Nexus community gives us access to an outstanding talent pool and leading academic research at the University of Leeds.”

Commenting on the investment, Liam added: “Being granted the investment from Maven is a huge milestone for Innotech Insights and allows us to grow a phenomenal team of professionals around our existing research and software products, as well as continue to strive for excellence in our field through innovation and collaboration.”

Alex Rothwell, investment manager at Maven, said, “Innotech’s technology is a pioneer in its field for this type of data system.

Liam and his team have identified a definite and growing need for a reliable source of information and understand that to achieve this, projects must be led by technology and not be process, procedure or man-power driven.

“We look forward to working with Liam as he expands the sales team in Yorkshire and embarks upon an exciting programme of growth.”

Dr Martin Stow, Nexus director, added: “We’re delighted to have Innotech Insights join the growing Nexus community.

“From helping them expand their team with the brightest talent from the university, to supporting their R&D [research and development] and commercial objectives; Innotech Insights is a perfect example of a business that can really benefit from the Nexus offer.”