London’s tech scene gets a reboot
The traditions of business networking are being redefined by TECH+TUNES — a new monthly hub of conversation, connection and soaring arias for London’s tech community. Behind the two unassuming doors of 213 Oxford Street, ambient mood lights, indulgent snacks and atmospheric live music offers an intimate alternative to conventional networking.
With TEDx-style talks, speed pitching, an international lineup of musicians, complimentary pizza, drinks and luxurious ice cream bites, this new event has one ambition: the celebration of creativity and its power to bring people together.
“Creativity and inspiration is at the heart of TECH+TUNES, and every month, guests are treated to exhilarating live performances from the world of opera and classical music,” commented Lizzie Holmes, Experiences Manager at SurrealDB; the serverless database startup behind TECH+TUNES.
Dig further into SurrealDB, however, and you soon realise that creativity isn’t just a buzzword for the London-based startup, rather it underpins their entire recruitment philosophy.
“We have a spoken word poet, jazz musician, opera singer, History of Art graduate and even a French horn player in the team,” said Holmes.
“The tech industry is the new frontier of people’s lives, and creativity needs to be at the heart of that. Out-of-the-box thinking is what motivated Tobie and Jaime (SurrealDB’s founding brothers) to solve one of the tech industry’s biggest problems: needing multiple API development and database technologies when building SaaS tools.
“SurrealDB takes away this headache by consolidating the different databases and API code into one easy-to-manage platform.”
This innovative-thinking quickly propelled SurrealDB to becoming one of the fastest-growing open-source databases in history — securing seed funding of $6 million in December last year.
Asked about the distinction between traditional STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, maths) and the arts, Holmes, herself a trained soprano from the Royal College of Music, added: “There should never be a division between arts and tech — they should go hand in hand. Embracing creativity fosters endless ideas and innovation.
On the startup’s refreshing approach to networking, SurrealDB Co-Founder Jaime Morgan Hitchcock said: “TECH+TUNES is our spirit animal — encompassing all of our values. We’ve grown rapidly because we celebrate creative-thinking, and to find creative-thinkers, we open our doors and hearts to them every single month.”
Due to phenomenal demand, TECH+TUNES now requires pre-booking, but remains free to attend. Developers, engineers and friendly people from all corners of London’s business and creative community are welcome.
