5th May 2027 - RNCM, Manchester
The benchmark for Northern Tech | Brought to you by Prolific North.
GRAFT Tech Growth Report & Summit
Where is the North’s next big tech opportunity? Prolific North’s new Northern tech report and flagship conference in May 2027 will uncover where growth is happening, what’s holding it back, and bring together the people who can help unlock what comes next.
GRAFT Tech Growth Summit
The North’s Next Tech Success Stories.
The North of England has proven time and again that it can build world-class technology companies. From Manchester unicorns like Matillion and AI powerhouses like Peak, to Leeds tech leaders like Crisp and Durham’s Atom Bank, the region has a growing track record of success on the global stage.
Through GRAFT, from our weekly newsletter to regional start-up and investor showcases, we’ve been tracking and championing this momentum. With vibrant incubators, world-leading university research and deep sector specialisms, the North’s early-stage tech ecosystem is thriving. The next challenge is turning more of that potential into globally competitive scale-ups.
Northern Tech in Numbers
Report
State of Northern Tech Report
Launching at the GRAFT Northern Tech Summit, Prolific North’s State of Northern Tech Report, produced in partnership with Tracxn, will provide a data-led picture of the region’s tech economy and identify where its next wave of growth could come from.
Moving beyond comparisons with London, the report will highlight where Northern tech businesses and clusters are succeeding, where new opportunities are emerging and what could help more companies scale.
Combining regional data with insights from founders, investors and ecosystem leaders, the report will explore the reality behind the numbers, showcase success stories and identify what’s needed to unlock further growth.
The aim is to create a practical resource to inform investment decisions, business strategy, inward investment and policymaking, while building a stronger, shared story about the future of Northern tech.
The report will establish headline Northern benchmarks across:
Economic footprint
Hard data across GVA, job creation, and regional productivity.
Regional hubs & Emerging clusters
Mapping established city hubs alongside overlooked, high-potential tech communities flying under the national radar.
Deep-dive investment metrics
Breaking down capital deployment across Seed, Series A, Series B, and follow-on stages – examining who is writing the cheques (Northern, London, or overseas) and addressing follow-on funding bottlenecks.
Sector superpowers
Drilling into established and emerging hubs, tracking growth across AI and data, cyber, fintech, legaltech, healthtech, and edtech regionally from North West, Yorkshire & Humber to North East.
Ecosystem dynamics
Evaluating how evolving technologies (like AI efficiency) are reshaping early-stage capital requirements and bootstrapping timelines.
Investors seen at GRAFT
PXN Ventures
Merica Ventures
Grant Tree
GC Angels
Haatch
Solidbond
Palatine
Fhunded
Brewin Dolphin
Octopus Ventures
British Business Bank
Summit
The Summit: 5th May, Manchester
The report shows where the opportunities lie, while the Tech Growth Summit 2027 will dig deep and ask what we do with those numbers.
This flagship one-day event will bring together founders and scale-up leaders, investors, combined authorities, universities, and professional advisers to translate insight into action.
Built around the live reveal of the report’s findings, the day explores key growth questions through keynote addresses, strategic panels, snappy founder spotlights, and masterclasses.
The day opens with a live reveal of the report’s headline findings, highlighting the North’s biggest growth opportunities, fastest-growing clusters, strongest sectors, investment trends and the areas where barriers remain.
From there, the one-day event will explore the key questions emerging from the research through a mixture of keynotes, panels, snappy founder stories, workshops and roundtables, including:
The Geography of growth
Which Northern clusters are breaking through, where is growth flying under the radar and how can different city regions complement rather than compete with each other?
The sectors that could define the North’s continued growth
Exploring where the North already has genuine competitive advantage across areas such as AI and data, cyber, fintech, legaltech, martech, healthtech, medtech, gaming.
Scaling from the North
Bringing founders into the conversation to talk candidly about building and growing a technology company here, from raising capital and attracting talent to what has helped them scale and what still needs fixing.
Funding the North
Bringing founders and investors together to explore where capital is flowing, where the gaps remain and what needs to change to unlock more seed, Series A, B, C and beyond, and the role of devolution.
Skills, talent and infrastructure
Looking at what the North needs to support its next phase of growth, including AI skills, graduate retention, commercial leadership, digital infrastructure, innovation districts and specialist workspace.
Who Attends GRAFT?
Founders & Business Leaders
Scale-up founders, CEOs and ambitious tech businesses looking for market intelligence, investor visibility and insights on growth.
Investors & Finance
VCs, private equity firms, angel networks and corporate finance advisers seeking investment opportunities, emerging businesses and high-growth Northern tech clusters.
Professional Services & Advisers
Legal advisers and specialist consultants working across M&A, governance, intellectual property and international expansion, supporting the next generation of tech companies.
Public Sector, Universities & Innovation
Combined authorities, policymakers, universities and innovation leaders connecting research, talent and investment to support regional growth and inward investment.
Why Now?
Existing research is often weighted heavily towards London and the South, leaving Northern operators to cobble together their own view of the market.
Talking to our audience, there is particular interest in understanding where opportunities are emerging beyond the best-known hubs:
For Founders:
A dedicated profile showcasing your business, services, people and expertise, including a valuable backlink from Prolific North.
For Investors:
Clear regional intelligence highlights high-value, overlooked businesses, clusters and opportunities.
Regional Leaders:
Granular figures provide compelling evidence for inward investment and regional support.
Supporters
PXN Ventures
Leighton
Sister
TechUK
