We are One to Watch

Totem Learning has been selected as a ‘One to Watch’ which spotlights 100 growth export-minded CreaTech businesses!

Export and growth ambitions are driving the UK businesses at the intersection of creativity and technology celebrated in the new CreaTech ‘Ones to Watch’ list.

Ambitions for the future growth of such CreaTech businesses are built on the innovation these companies offer. Typically, they mix technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual or augmented reality with creative expertise to add value to entertainment, experiences, business services, or public goods in multiple categories. 

The ‘Ones to Watch’ list is published annually by the Creative Industries Council (CIC), with support from Digital Catapult, Facebook, Moore Kingston Smith and UKRI (AHRC) to highlight such breakthrough CreaTech businesses from across the UK. The list was selected by a panel of industry leaders, funding bodies, and experts.

The nascent CreaTech space has been praised by UK government, industry and venture capitalists for its potential to generate new sources of revenue, employment, and cultural value.

CreaTech could have an important role to play in the economic recovery of the UK creative industries that have been severely disrupted by audience restrictions and other measures introduced to counter COVID-19. Before the pandemic, CreaTech was one of the growth hotspots in the UK creative industries, which in total contributed £115.9bn to the UK economy in 2019.

The pre-COVID growth rate of the creative industries was more than three times faster than the UK economy as a whole, and creative businesses also over-delivered in terms of their share of UK service exports.

Welcoming the 2021 CreaTech Ones to Watch list, Minister for Digital and Culture Caroline Dinenage said: "Our creative industries are an economic powerhouse and it's no surprise that the 2021 Ones to Watch list includes 100 businesses with big ambitions. Creative technology has transformed our lives, it was central to keeping us entertained during the pandemic, and will be at the heart of our recovery as we build back better."

Dr Jeremy Silver, CEO, Digital Catapult, the UK authority on advanced digital technology, and Chair of the CIC R&D and Innovation working group, said: “The coming together of the creative industries with the technology sector has enormous potential for the UK economy, as demonstrated by the amazing line-up of innovative businesses in the ‘Onesto Watch’ list, and there’s still lots more to come.

“The UK is a global creative industries super power. So we’re well placed to build on that and develop new ways to boost collaboration between academia and industry. The time is now to accelerate innovation in the creative industries and boost R&D, to fuel the UK’s Covid recovery and to take our industries to new heights.”

Janet Hull, CIC CreaTech Organiser and Director of Marketing Strategy at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, said: “Ones to Watch provides a valuable showcase to demonstrate to government, industry, and investors through concrete examples the multiplicity of scalable commercial business opportunities being created at the convergence of creative industries and tech.

“In combination with the evidence from The Tech Nation CreaTech Reports, we now have a robust base from which to seek government collaboration, commitment and support for an effective long-term growth plan.”