About Akcela
Started by founders. Built for founders.
Our team has experience of founding, scaling, and exiting companies. We know what founders need because we've needed it ourselves.
Our team has experience of founding, scaling, and exiting companies. We know what founders need because we've needed it ourselves.
Our story
Akcela launched in September 2021 with a simple belief: Norwich's founders deserve better support than generic business advice and London-centric programmes.
The incubator was built by people who'd already done it, started companies, grown teams, raised money, navigated the hard bits, and come out the other side. The idea was straightforward: take everything we've learned and put it to work alongside the next generation of tech-enabled founders in Norfolk.
Since launch, we've incubated companies across EdTech, gaming, cybersecurity, SaaS, and more. We've been named a Vodafone Business Champion, listed in the Future 50, and partnered with organisations across the Norfolk and Suffolk ecosystem. But the thing we're most proud of is the community, a growing network of founders who back each other, share what they know, and build in the open.
We're privately owned, independently run, and completely aligned with our founders through our equity-for-services model. When they win, we win.
The team
Founder & Managing Partner
James leads the Akcela incubator, driving it from launch through to national recognition. He works directly with portfolio founders on strategy, fundraising, and go-to-market, bringing the hands-on, no-nonsense approach that defines Akcela’s culture. James built Akcela because he saw a gap: Norwich had the founders and the ideas, but not the structured incubation support to turn them into companies.
Office Manager
Anna is at the heart of the incubator. She ensures that our space works for everyone who uses it, and that our office feels like a place where people can do their best work. She runs ops, events and our outreach comms. Anna makes everything tick.
Founder & Partner
Peter co-founded the product design studio Foolproof in Norwich in 2002, and grew it into a 150+ person international business before selling in 2016. He’s an angel investor in the Norwich startup ecosystem and brings deep experience in scaling companies, building teams, and navigating the messy middle between startup and established business. At Akcela, Peter works with founders on product strategy, team development, and the practicalities of growth.
Founder & Partner
Tom co-founded Foolproof alongside Peter in 2002 and led the business as it grew from a Portakabin in Norwich to an internationally recognised agency with studios across the world. He brings a founder’s perspective on everything from user experience and value proposition to investor relations and exit planning. He is very active in the Norwich startup and creative ecosystem and is extremely well connected across these networks in the region.
Founder & Advisor
Kate is a co-founder of Akcela and continues to support the incubator in an advisory capacity. She brings experience across business development, partnerships, and ecosystem building, and played a key role in establishing Akcela’s early community and programme structure.
What we believe
We come on board to roll our sleeves up and deliver. If you need a consultant, we’re not the right fit. If you need a co-builder, pull up a chair.
Every decision we make is through the lens of what’s best for the founder and their company. Our equity model means we only succeed when they do.
We’re here because Norwich and Norfolk have the talent, the ideas, and the economic base to produce world-class companies. We’re not trying to be London. We’re building something better, on our own terms.
Our founders support each other. They share contacts, compare notes, and celebrate each other’s wins. That’s not accidental, it’s by design.
Recognition
National award for supporting East England startups through the Covid-19 recovery
Listed among Norfolk and Suffolk’s fastest-growing and most innovative businesses
Received £110,000 to strengthen the regional startup ecosystem, backed by Barclays Eagle Labs and Connected Innovation
Featured on BBC Radio discussing the Norwich startup ecosystem and Akcela’s role in it
Whether you're a founder looking for incubation, a partner who wants to support the ecosystem, or an investor looking for deal flow, we'd love to hear from you.