TechWorks, the UK’s semiconductor and deeptech industry association, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Silicon Catalyst UK, the incubator and accelerator for early-stage semiconductor companies, with the aim of strengthening support for startups and accelerate their journey to becoming global scale-ups.
Charles Sturman, CEO of TechWorks spoke to sister publication Procurement Pro about how to revive the UK’s chip industry fortunes – acknowledging that what once was a robust and strong environment has since faded in dominance, making way for other countries to lead in the semiconductor industry.
Startups are a key driver of semiconductor innovation and contribute significantly to the sector’s prosperity. Silicon Catalyst UK delivers the government’s early-stage semiconductor startup incubator ChipStart UK, as well as accelerates seed-stage semicondctor startups to Series A investment with its two-year commercial Silicon Catalyst programme.
By aligning Silicon Catalyst’s incubation and acceleration expertise with TechWorks’ established membership base, the MoU strives to create fertile ground on which semiconductor startups can progress from innovative prototypes into large-scale industrial deployment, often a challenge for startups.
“The UK and Europe have both the talent and innovations to create a new generation of $ billion semiconductor companies,” said Sturman. “This agreement with Silicon Catalyst UK brings together the best of start-up incubation with the strength of our industrial networks, creating a powerful pathway from concept to commercial scale. Together, we are building the conditions for long-term success in the global semiconductor market.”
As part of the agreement, Silicon Catalyst UK will become a member of TechWorks, strengthening collaboration across its ecosystem.
The MoU sets up cooperative activities:
- Promotion opportunities for startups: eligible portfolio companies will be given the opportunity to exhibit at flagship TechWorks events, helping showcase UK start-up talent
- Ecosystem collaboration: the parties will work together to encourage collaboration and supporting partnerships between start-ups and established companies, enabling cross-fertilisation of innovation across semiconductor, systems and vertical market sectors
“This collaboration reflects a shared common vision: to create the conditions necessary to release the next generation of $ billion semiconductor companies in Europe,” added Sean Redmond, President of Silicon Catalyst Europe. “By combining the innovation of start-ups with the reach of established industry networks, TechWorks and Silicon Catalyst UK and Silicon Catalyst EU are working to strengthen the UK and Europe’s position in the global semiconductor ecosystem.”
This latest MoU is one of TechWorks’ initiatives aimed at turbocharging the UK’s capabilities in microelectronics and systems design.
At the upcoming Microelectronics UK conference TechWorks will host and lead the morning session on the semiconductors stage, featuring its CEO Charles Sturman, in a keynote and panel session, ‘Global Perspectives on the Evolving Microelectronics Landscape’.
The session will also include an open keynote from Labour MP Kanishka Narayan, highlighting the strategic importance of microelectronics innovation to the UK’s economic and technological future.
