About us

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Hello!

My name is Kris Sum, and I am one of the leaders of TechExeter – a focus point for all things tech related in the regional capital of Exeter, Devon (UK).

The team (see below) all live locally and work in the tech industry. We’ve been running local tech meetups and events for several years, and we’ve grown our grassroots community to over 1500 members – re-branding from “ExeterWeb” founded in 2011 to “TechExeter” back in 2016.

We get involved with lots of events, including:

Community, Connection and Diversity

These are our 3 main areas of focus.

  • Co-ordinating resources and events that support Exeter’s tech community. This includes regular meetups with lightning talks and networking, training and workshops, community-led events such as the NASA Space Apps hackathon and our conference showcasing regional and national speakers.
  • Connecting people across Exeter’s tech and digital community, encouraging collaboration, shared learning and meaningful professional relationships.
  • Encouraging greater diversity and inclusion in the tech industry, with a focus on supporting people who are underrepresented, such as women and people from ethnic minorities (see posts tagged #diversity).

These 3 things are embedded into the TechExeter Community Interest Company mission statement, everything we do and any sponsorship monies or donations will all go towards supporting the community.

“Our aim is for TechExeter to serve our vibrant community, by being their representative voice, and by helping to make awesome things happen”

How we’re run

For a long time, we have done this out of our own pocket. We also have some wonderful corporate sponsors who help us put on our free events.

We often work alongside various other tech communities in the South West, collaborating on events and sharing ideas. 

Biographies

Kris Sum

Kris Sum is MD of tech consultancy Switch Systems Ltd, based in Exeter. Kris is a keen technologist and gamer in his spare time, and loves nothing more than to tinker on side projects.

“I started Switch when I moved back to Exeter after University – I couldn’t find a job locally and I really wanted to stay in this beautiful city, so I started contracting doing programming as a sole trader. Having gained big clients such as the University of Exeter I needed to expand, so I set up Switch Systems and haven’t looked back!”

“I’ve always been an early adopter of new technology, from my first mp3 player as a teenager, through to todays smart phones, smart watches and virtual reality headsets – I couldn’t live without tech!

Sarah Tull is the Director of Communications at Rezcomm, a locally rooted but globally operating tech company.

She started in youth work and coffee before moving into digital strategy and B2B SaaS communications. Sarah is particularly interested in how tech businesses communicate trust, value and impact as they scale. She focuses on how strong communications can support sustainable growth without losing authenticity.

Colin Dart

Colin Dart is the Technology Manager at SETsquared Exeter providing product development support to high tech, high growth start-ups.

Stemming from a creative background, Colin has experience across graphic design, web development, network infrastructure, and more.
A keen advocate for collaboration, Colin channels his efforts into supporting innovation communities.

An additional thanks to these wonderful people, who have also been involved with TechExeter: Philippa Carnelly, Chloe Parker, Chris Wilson, Jacob Tomlinson, Kathryn White, Paul Rose, Shane Griffiths, Sky Randall, Tony Edwards

If you want to get involved with TechExeter, head over to register your interest here.