Ufi and Catch22

Mobilising the power and energy of tech ventures to drive reform in public service delivery.

GoodTech Ventures showcase

Reform through social enterprise has been at the forefront of Catch22’s work for over 200 years.

Together, Ufi and Catch22 are working to catalyse systems change in the adoption and deployment of vocational technology with a focus on the business to government market.

“At Catch22, we have an ambitious agenda for driving reform in delivering public services and we are increasingly adopting innovations in tackling the injustices faced by young people in the labour market.

Through this exciting partnership, we will be drawing on our shared networks, expertise and resources to accelerate the most promising ventures innovating in this space.”

  • David Hinton, Catch22 Project Lead

Background

Catch22 is a social business, designing and delivering public services that build resilience and aspiration in people and communities.

They work across education, apprenticeships and employability programmes and deliver social justice and rehabilitation services both in prisons and in the community.

Contact for further details

Caroline O'Donnell

Caroline O’Donnell
Grants Programme Manager

Activities and achievements

Three care workers learning on a laptop

Supporting VocTech adoption across public services

Across the UK public and third sectors, early-stage technology too often fails to make the leap into real-world use. This gap stalls innovation, limits impact and frustrates founders, public service teams and service users.

In partnership with Capacity, Catch22 and Ufi, are working to better understand the barriers to adopting early-stage tech in public service delivery, with a specific focus on digital tools and approaches to support skills and workforce development.

Our aim is to bring these systems and communities together in ways that are practical, realistic and mutually beneficial. Ultimately, we want to help good technology get used, not just built.

The GoodTech Ventures Community and Accelerator.

In October 2023, the GoodTech Ventures Community and Accelerator was launched to support early-stage impact-led tech ventures to design, build and deploy game-changing digital technologies into social and public service delivery.

The programme was delivered by Catch22 in partnership with Social Tech Trust and Unity Ventures with over 700k of funding and support from Ufi, Microsoft and the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. GoodTech Ventures have supported three cohorts of ventures with funding, expert advice and the opportunity to pitch to customers, partners and investors.

GoodTech Ventures released an Impact Report, showcasing the significant progress made in supporting early-stage tech-for-good ventures over the 22 months since its launch. We’re proud to have helped lay the foundations for this community and we look forward to seeing what GoodTech Ventures achieve in their next phase.

GoodTech Ventures logo

The Social Tech Amplifier, October 2022.

The Social Tech Amplifier was launched jointly by Catch22, the Social Tech Trust and Ufi, with support from Hatch and Microsoft.

Created to mobilise the power and energy of tech ventures in public service delivery, the amplifier invited start-ups and ventures to apply for the programme, where they received support to refine their solutions, scale their ideas and bring commercially successful solutions to the business to government (B2G) market.

This model of investment presented a unique opportunity to support more young people to access the benefits of vocational technology. Together, we worked to scale new and impactful technology solutions which will ultimately equip more people to successfully navigate the future of work.

Our work together on GoodTech Ventures was built on the achievements of the Social Tech Amplifier.

Resources from across the site

News, projects and activity in partnership with Catch22.