In the heart of the West Midlands, a new wave of innovation is taking shape. Build Here, Bridge Beyond is a six-month programme by organisation TN Naija, as part of the UK Tech Cluster Group’s Regional Tech Booster, which is funded by the UK Government. This ambitious pilot empowers first-generation Nigerian founders across Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, to build and scale ventures with both local impact and global reach.
TN Naija is a thriving community of over 700 Nigerian professionals in the UK, working in the tech industry. The West Midlands area was selected for this pilot because there is an existing community of tech entrepreneurs and founders to support.
The West Midlands has one of the UK’s most diverse populations, with over 40% of Birmingham residents identifying as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic. Yet this diversity is not reflected in the region’s startup ecosystem, or indeed the UK’s tech ecosystem.
TN Naija’s internal data shows that less than 5% of West Midlands members, who represent about 40% of the 600-strong Global Talent Visa holder network, have participated in regional accelerator or startup support programmes.
The initiative builds on the momentum of TN Naija’s previous events in Birmingham, called Connect & Ignite 2025, which drew over 350 participants and spotlighted 10 diaspora-founded ventures.
Many immigrant and first-generation founders in the West Midlands face a unique set of challenges such as limited access to trusted professional networks, underrepresentation in high-growth incubators, navigating visas and a lack of culturally responsive programmes.
Some support programmes often require full-time founder participation and don’t account for the dual-market strategies that many diaspora founders are pursuing.
Damilare Ogunleye, director at TN Naija and business growth specialist, explained, “There’s been a clear demand for a pilot programme such as this outside London. Having seen the impact it can deliver in one region, it has real potential to be replicated in other UK tech hubs, as well as being run again here to support even more founders in the West Midlands.
This would mean even more Nigerian diaspora founders can access tailored support and a strong community of peers to help them grow and scale their businesses.”
The programme is directly supporting 30+ tech startups through a structured but flexible learning experience, with activities that include:
- Founder Circles: small peer-based groups offering accountability, shared learning and community support tailored to part-time and early-stage founders.
- Visa-to-Venture Clinics – expert-led sessions on starting and scaling startups, especially relevant for Global Talent Visa holders and international graduates.
- Immigrant Connect Labs – cross-border knowledge exchange sessions with UK and African operators, unlocking insights on dual-market growth strategies.
- Bridge Beyond Showcase – a storytelling and visibility platform where founders share their journeys with investors, stakeholders, and wider community audiences.
- Partner Sprints – co-designed interventions with universities, accelerators, and local ecosystem players to enable long-term engagement and pipeline building.
- Investment Readiness Track – focused support and warm introductions to investors within and outside the community.
November marked the programme’s kickoff, with a high-energy workshop and the first Founder Circles sessions. These peer-based groups, each made up of ten founders, have quickly become accountability anchors, fostering shared learning, emotional support and the exchange of real-world startup insights.
Following that, the Innovation Ecosystem Clinic connected founders to local partners, including Innovate UK Business Connect, helping them navigate funding pathways, regional support options, and Innovate UK readiness. Advisory check-ins and one-on-one mentoring sessions have since deepened that guidance.
In order to measure impact, baseline surveys are tracking measurable outcomes such as founder confidence, clarity of direction, entrepreneurial connections, and capital readiness. Meanwhile, early feedback already suggests the initiative is adding tangible structure and accountability for part-time and first-time founders.
As TN Naija collaborates with West Midlands innovation partners to deliver the upcoming Showcase in March, it’s clear this pilot is doing more than supporting startups – it’s reshaping what inclusive innovation looks like in practice.
This programme was designed to be replicated in other areas of the UK, such as Greater Manchester, which also has a significant community of Nigerian tech and digital entrepreneurs.
By uniting founders, investors, and enablers through shared purpose and practical momentum, Build Here, Bridge Beyond is proving that when tech talent builds here, they can truly bridge beyond.
Testimonials from participants
“LiquidBricks is a compliance-first platform that turns individual commercial buildings into tradable digital shares, allowing people to invest in real estate from as little as £100 and access liquidity that traditional property ownership doesn’t offer.
“BHBB has pushed me to refine my regulatory strategy and founder narrative much earlier. I’ve become more intentional about validating LiquidBricks with the right stakeholders, structuring my approach to the Digital Securities Sandbox, and tightening my go-to-market plan with clearer, data-led assumptions.”
Clinton Agbo, Liquid Bricks
“ResearchGains is a cross-border research and data intelligence platform serving researchers and organisations with evidence-driven insight in Africa, built on real, reliable data by delivering a platform infrastructure for structured surveys, advanced analytics, and data annotation services designed to bridge the gap for Local AIs in Africa.
“Being part of the BHBB community has been highly valuable. Networking with other founders and growing together provided clarity on my journey of building in the UK, shifting my approach from working in isolation to building deliberately with clear outcomes in mind.”
Babatunde Balogun, ResearchGains
“Hokfam Ltd is a technology company building a suite of digital products across productivity, children’s learning, agriculture, and healthcare. Through the BHBB programme, we’ve strengthened our structure, refined our product strategy, and expanded our reach. One exciting development is that we now have all our apps launched and are focused on scaling user growth globally as we continue to integrate new version update, meeting our users expectations.”
Ikechukwu Arum, Hokfam Ltd
