Celebrating Innovation in 2025

As 2025 draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to reflect on an incredible year for Connected Innovation.

We continued to foster amazing collaborations across Norfolk and Suffolk, and celebrated an exciting expansion into Essex. Together, we’ve seen businesses grow, partnerships flourish, and new opportunities emerge, proof that innovation truly thrives when we connect.

Looking Back

What a year it’s been for Connected Innovation! From major investments to landmark events, 2025 has truly shown the strength and ambition of the East of England’s innovation ecosystems. We’re proud to see programmes like Future Tech, Create Growth, and Agri-Tech Launchpad collectively raise over £44 million! Proof that our region is buzzing with ideas and opportunities, so much so that we have also been hosting delegations from across the world who are exploring our region as a new home.

We kicked things off in February hosting a delegation of Japanese companies across the region with our partners at Canopy, hosted a cross sector AI themed event with Innovate UK at the University of Suffolk in March, sponsored the Tastebuds Collective Conference and inaugural awards in April and July, exhibited at the Norwich Games Festival in May, celebrated agri-tech with the Agri-Food Business Council reception at the Royal Norfolk Show in June, and explored global funding opportunities at the Horizon Europe event in July.

September brought Cambridge Tech Week to Norwich Research Park, where we showcased the incredible research and enterprise happening right here in our region alongside hosting delegates from the Québec Government Office. With each event and activity, we were reminded again and again why collaboration is at the heart of innovation.

October was a game changer – we announced Connected Innovation’s expansion into Essex at Innovate Local in Bury St Edmunds. This move opens up new connections across the East of England, and with it we welcomed a new Project Coordinator to the team, which means we’re ready to deliver even bigger things in 2026.

And then came November, a month to remember! We sponsored the inaugural Game Anglia Direct, the Emerging Talent Award at the DevelopHER Awards, and the Norwich AI Summit, all celebrating creativity and tech talent. We also took six brilliant early-stage founders to SLUSH in Helsinki, supporting the Department for Business & Trade’s first UK House event, where we put our region on the global stage.

To top it all off, we published a landmark report with Norwich University of the Arts, highlighting the East of England’s potential to become the UK’s next major games cluster.

Coming up in 2026

While December is usually a time to wind down, we’re still busy planning for an exciting year ahead. We’ll kick off 2026 bringing together all of our Innovation Hub leads from across the three counties as well speaking at the next Health Innovation themed event at Arise in Harlow, followed by Norwich Science Festival in February, all key opportunities to showcase innovation and strengthen collaboration.

We’re also incredibly excited to be working with Innovate UK hosting February’s Horizon Europe event, designed to help businesses access one of the world’s largest research and innovation funding programmes. This event will connect regional innovators with international opportunities, partnerships, and practical guidance on securing Horizon Europe funding – putting the East of England front and centre for all to see.

Thanks for a Great Year!

All of the success from this year continues to set the tone of growth, innovation, and impact across the region and we have no intention of slowing down in the year to come.

Thank you to all our partners, innovators, and supporters who made 2025 such a success. Your creativity and commitment drive everything we do, and we can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together in 2026.

Cheers to a festive season and an inspiring year ahead. Let’s make next year extraordinary!