C4DI (the Centre for Digital Innovation in Hull) is a

digital hub Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

located at the Fruit Market in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, England. The company provides services to startups and has formed links with

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Amazon that provides Software as a service, on-demand cloud computing computing platform, platforms and Application programming interface, APIs to individuals, companies, and gover ...

Kingston Communications KCOM Group (formerly known as Kingston Communications and latterly KC) is a UK communications and IT services provider. Its headquarters are in the city of Kingston upon Hull, and it serves local residents and businesses with Internet and telep ...

and numerous other supporters to assist with this aim. They launched the C4DI Accelerator in May 2014, which is expected to start in March 2015. The company has received visits from

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...

Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...

Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries In the Government of the United Kingdom, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts and Heritage is a ministerial post in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The post is usually a junior to middle-ranking minister to the more ...

Ed Vaizey Edward Henry Butler Vaizey, Baron Vaizey of Didcot, (born 5 June 1968) is a British politician, media columnist, political commentator and barrister who was Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries from 2010 to 2016. A memb ...

and Shadow Minister for Culture and Media

Helen Goodman Helen Catherine Goodman (born 2 January 1958) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament for Bishop Auckland from 2005 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she was Deputy Leader of the House of Commons from 2007 to 200 ...

on account of Hull being the 2017

UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...

Company connections

KC Business

Kingston Communications held an important role in providing the company with "...around 10 times faster downstream and 100 times faster for uploads than the typical standard UK broadband connection."

Spencer Group

In October 2013, the Spencer Group was classified as the 'first Innovation Partner' of C4DI. The partnership was made to "...develop business opportunities which have a technological aspect and harness technology to drive forward the company's performance."

Ebuyer

In March 2014,

Ebuyer Ebuyer is an electronic commerce retailer based in Howden, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is the largest independent online retailer of computer and electrical goods in the United Kingdom. The Ebuyer website is the 210th most visited site ...

announced a formal partnership between the two companies with the aim; "...to encourage the formation and growth of tech start-ups in the area and offer opportunities to place innovative creations on the Ebuyer website." The announcement was considered a positive step in promoting Yorkshire ahead in the technology community and being able to compete with locations such as London and Manchester.

PwC

In May 2014,

declared on its website that it would be supporting the C4DI accelerator which is designed, "...to fast-track high growth start-ups through smart investment capital by supporting and developing robust and globally-connected businesses."

Other

The company has also formed links with

Handelsbanken Svenska Handelsbanken AB is a Swedish bank providing banking services including traditional corporate transactions, investment banking and trading as well as consumer banking including insurance. Handelsbanken is one of the major banks in Sweden ...

, Campaign Monitor,

Twilio Twilio () is an American company based in San Francisco, California, which provides programmable communication tools for making and receiving phone calls, sending and receiving text messages, and performing other communication functions using it ...

FreeAgent FreeAgent is cloud-based accounting software company based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History FreeAgent was launched in September 2007. The company was founded by Ed Molyneux, Olly Headey and Roan Lavery. In 2012 FreeAgent acquired the American s ...

, Zapier, dotforge accelerator, Stelrad Group, SOFTIQ, Jelf Insurance Brokers, IT@Spectrum,

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...

and

Hull College Hull College is a Further Education and Higher Education establishment based in Kingston upon Hull, England. It provides vocational courses, apprenticeships, Higher Education and adult learning courses, with a focus on equipping young peopl ...

Future development

They previously operated from 'The C4DI Beta', a temporary location within the Wykeland offices adjacent to the current site, prior to moving into a new £13.4 million development on the bank of the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

, part of the @Dock development, in December 2016.

References

{{coord, 53.7387, -0.3329, region:GB, display=title Business incubators of the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Kingston upon Hull