Taking the Leap: Turning Ideas Into Reality
Stepping out on your own can be daunting—we get it! For over a decade, we’ve been at the forefront of empowering first-time founders to transform their tech ideas into thriving businesses.
In 2024, we turned our focus to the esports sector, where we had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Blance. Andrew joined our accelerator programme with a big dream: to turn his early-stage idea, Pasimo, into a reality.
At the time, Pasimo was just a concept—a seed of innovation with great potential. Through our programme, Andrew gained the tools, guidance, and connections needed to start shaping Pasimo into a tech solution ready to make waves in the esports space.
Startup Spotlight: Andrew Blance, founder of Pasimo
Andrew, from Pasimo, was one of our 14 participants who decided to take his idea further. Pasimo aims to introduce novel ways of teaching sign language to make society more inclusive for deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. With the application of spatial computers, they aim to innovate the way sign language can be taught to make learning applicable to day-to-day usage.
Andrew said, “There are more people than you expect in the country who struggle with some form of hearing loss. One in three adults in the UK is affected by hearing loss”.
Pasimo aims to tackle this issue by developing hand-free tools that can track hand shapes to help with learning British Sign Language (BSL), streamlining the learning process. Andrew is in contact with organisations across the North East to make their spaces internally and externally more inclusive.
Joining our accelerator programme!
Andrew opted to participate in our accelerator, he shared ‘’SSC is such a big part of the tech industry within the North East. I’d attended their events and had positive experiences with them previously. Their partnership with British Esports, a big industry presence of esport in the region also appealed to me.”
Early-Stage Support
Our accelerator programme is designed to support businesses looking to enhance their current processes, as well as individuals like Andrew, who are in the early conceptual stages of their journey. Whether you’re refining established operations or fast-tracking the development of a new idea, our programme provides tailored support to help you succeed. We offered a range of resources and guidance, including:
- 1-2-1 Bespoke Support
Throughout the programme, Andrew met with our startup team as well as other colleagues and contacts who would be able to support him on his journey. Accessing our team of specialists through 1-2-1 support Andrews’s idea changed over his 8 weeks with us.
“I got introduced to a lot of people from SSC where I had a lot of useful conversations, which helped me hone my idea and develop some key aspects. Hekla Goodman Parker and Mark Gardner helped with pitching, and the British Esport team helped me understand how my customer base would respond to my pitch”.
- Core Business Elements
Learning how to run a business can be intimidating, especially when starting up. There are several aspects that people may not be aware of. We offered a range of seminars, workshops and guest lectures with industry experts to help Andrew understand what will be required to grow his business. From business support, funding advice and accessing state-of-the-art spaces; we were able to help.
“There was a diverse range of in-person events that I attended. Workshops, seminars, and meeting people in the industry. We met with Sunderland Football Club, to learn how they are incorporating esports, Sunderland City Council and the work they are doing in the local area working with tech. Maddie Rippon who is a lawyer helped me understand the legal aspect.”
- Growing your professional network
The tech industry alone has a pipeline of talented individuals, who are eager to share their knowledge and expertise and may be in contact with potential investors. Meeting people through our events helped Andrew grow his professional network and develop a better understanding of the North East tech landscape.
“Meeting people like Mark and Hekla from SSC as well as Dave Martin from British Esports was great in gaining an insight into my business journey. The cohort was a mix of people at different stages. I met Gamlytics who were further on than me, where I was able to learn about the challenges to come later. Caroline Williamson, from SSC, introduced me to Tech Talent Pro and their team of junior developers who could offer support.”
Accelerator Insight and Highlight!
“At first I was mostly focused on the technical side, but the programme helped me reconceptualise the delivery aspect and craft a narrative that customers and investors would be passionate about.” With the introduction to several new ideas or aspects, at first it's difficult to see how they all come together. When Andrew reflected on his journey, he said “ I think the overall progression was the highlight of my experience. You may not think you’re progressing much at the beginning but looking back I honed my idea and changed my approach. I came out with an excellent pitching deck.”
The Future of Pasimo
With the completion of our programme, Andrew is starting the new year by continuing to develop his prototype and finding people and communities to work with. He’s looking to work more closely with SSC, specifically our team of junior developers from Tech Talent Pro. The long-term goal for Pasimo is to work with organisations and make companies more inclusive. In the future, he hopes to develop different versions that incorporate languages and regional dialects.
If you are unsure if an accelerator programme could be for you and your startup, Andrew said,” Even if you are a little bit interested, you should apply. The team at SSD are happy to have a chat about it before you sign up. There is a lot of stuff aside from the technical aspect such as running a business and pitching that the programme will teach you. You’ll gain insight as well as friends and contacts along the way. I would recommend you got for it”.
Accelerate 2025!
There are still some spaces available for our current initiative, Accelerate! This programme is looking at targeting esport, gaming and retail startups. Accelerate is designed for those starting with an idea like Andrew was or registered business looking to explore new possibilities. Want to kick start your tech startup? Click here!
