Black Tech Fest
Black Tech Fest is an annual London innovation and culture conference produced by UK nonprofit Colorintech that convenes technologists, creatives, and employers around diversity in technology, funded via tiered ticket sales and corporate sponsorships including Citi, Apple, and Uber.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Black Tech Fest does
Black Tech Fest (BTF) is an annual innovation and culture conference held in London, UK, founded in 2020 and produced by the UK nonprofit Colorintech. The event convenes technologists, creatives, academics, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers around the intersection of technology, culture, and underrepresented identities in the tech industry. The 2025 edition attracted 6,000 attendees and 150+ speakers across a one-day, three-stage program; ~30,000 people have attended cumulatively across five years, representing 39 countries, and the next edition is scheduled for 29 October 2026 at Tobacco Dock, London. BTF positions itself as the largest innovation and culture conference in Europe of its kind.
BTF is not a software product but a physical event and community platform. Its core deliverable is a curated conference program comprising keynotes, panel sessions, branded workshops (e.g., Apple-hosted iPhone photography workshops), networking zones, a recruitment expo, and an official afterparty with DJ performances. Attendee access is sold via three ticket tiers — Day Pass (£40), Day Pass + Party (£55), and VIP (£250, with lounge access and hospitality) — through the joinbtf.com website, with all purchases non-refundable. The organization does not disclose proprietary technology beyond standard website, email (ActiveCampaign), and social media infrastructure (LinkedIn, Instagram, X/Twitter, Facebook, TikTok).
The revenue model is dual-stream: consumer ticket sales and enterprise sponsorship. Sponsors for 2025 include Gold-tier partners Citi and Apple, afterparty sponsor Uber, and a broad supporting roster spanning Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, Tesla, Visa, Sky, Dell, Sage, Financial Times, Tesco, Electronic Arts, BBC, Expedia Group, Just Eat, Samsara, The Trade Desk, Government Digital Service, and the Financial Conduct Authority. BTF serves two primary customer segments: individual technologists and early-career professionals seeking networking and career opportunities, and corporate employers seeking diversity-focused recruitment channels, employer branding, and thought leadership visibility.
Black Tech Fest firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Black Tech Fest
- Legal name
- Black Tech Fest
- Website
- https://joinbtf.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Black Tech Fest is an annual London innovation and culture conference produced by UK nonprofit Colorintech that convenes technologists, creatives, and employers around diversity in technology, funded via tiered ticket sales and corporate sponsorships including Citi, Apple, and Uber.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Black Tech Fest industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Innovation and Culture Conferences
- NAICS
- Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Industry-Specific B2B Trade Show Organizers (THAHABAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Sponsorship, Exhibitor & Partnership Management Services (THAHACAK), Training, Enablement & Talent Development Summits (THAHAMAH)
Keywords
Where Black Tech Fest is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Black Tech Fest business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Ticket Sales: BTF generates revenue through tiered ticket sales including Day Pass (£40), Day Pass + Party (£55), and VIP (£250). These tickets provide entry to sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities at the annual conference.
- Sponsorship & Partnerships: BTF partners with corporations as sponsors, offering brand exposure to the event audience through booth space, stage presence, advertising opportunities, and recruitment access. Sponsors include major brands like Citi (Gold), Apple (Gold), Uber (Afterparty), along with other brand partners.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Day Pass - Standard entry to the event |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Day Pass + Party - Standard entry plus afterparty access |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | VIP Pass - Premium experience with exclusive lounge access |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Black Tech Fest product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Black Tech Fest (BTF) operates an annual in-person innovation and culture conference at Tobacco Dock, London. It sells tiered individual tickets (Day Pass £40, Day Pass + Party £55, VIP £250) granting access to sessions, keynotes, workshops, networking, recruitment expo, and an official afterparty, while monetizing the event audience separately through multi-tier corporate sponsorship packages that deliver brand activations, booth space, stage presence, and recruiting access. The platform is built and run by parent nonprofit Colorintech and leverages its established network of diverse tech professionals.
Product overview
Black Tech Fest (BTF) is an annual innovation platform and conference centered around technology and culture, organized by Colorintech. The event features multiple ticket tiers (Day Pass, Day Pass + Party, VIP), curated sessions and keynotes, networking opportunities, and an official afterparty. BTF is not a software product company but rather an event and community platform that convenes technologists, creatives, academics, and cultural icons around innovation, culture, and identity.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Black Tech Fest Annual Conference One-day, multi-stage innovation and culture conference at Tobacco Dock, London, offering keynotes, panel sessions, workshops, networking, and a recruitment-focused BTF Expo for technologists, creatives, founders, students, and investors; access sold via tiered tickets.
- BTF Official Afterparty Ticketed afterparty event following the main conference, including DJ performances, complimentary refreshments for VIP and Day+Party ticket holders, and branded presence by Afterparty sponsor Uber.
- BTF Corporate Sponsorship Packages Sponsorship packages sold to enterprise and government organizations for brand activation at the annual event, including Gold, Supporting, and Afterparty tiers with booth space, stage presence, advertising opportunities, and recruitment access at the BTF Expo.
Quantifiable outcome
- 30,000 attendees convened over 5 years
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Black Tech Fest
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Black Tech Fest technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Black Tech Fest partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- CiticoreCiti is a Gold Sponsor of BTF 2025. As a premier financial services partner, Citi gains brand exposure to thousands of diverse tech professionals and opportunities for employee engagement and recruitment at the event.
- ApplecoreApple is a Gold Sponsor of BTF 2025. Apple provides workshop sessions including iPhone photography workshops and gains access to the diverse tech professional audience for employer branding.
- UbercoreUber is the Afterparty Sponsor of BTF 2025. The partnership includes branding and visibility at the official afterparty event featuring DJ performances and celebrations.
- SagesupportingSage sponsors BTF 2025, gaining visibility among diverse tech professionals and demonstrating commitment to inclusion and diversity in tech.
- Financial TimessupportingFinancial Times is a sponsor of BTF 2025, providing media partnership and content coverage to the event audience.
- TescosupportingTesco sponsors BTF 2025, demonstrating commitment to diversity and inclusion while gaining access to diverse tech talent.
- Goldman SachssupportingGoldman Sachs is a sponsor of BTF 2025, supporting the event and gaining visibility among diverse tech professionals for recruitment purposes.
- Electronic ArtssupportingElectronic Arts sponsors BTF 2025, gaining access to diverse gaming and tech professionals and demonstrating commitment to diversity in the gaming industry.
- BloombergsupportingBloomberg is a sponsor of BTF 2025, providing support and gaining visibility among diverse tech professionals.
- The Trade DesksupportingThe Trade Desk sponsors BTF 2025, demonstrating commitment to diversity in tech while engaging with the event's audience of tech professionals.
- Government Digital ServicesupportingGovernment Digital Service is a partner of BTF 2025, representing government interest in technology, diversity, and inclusion in the tech sector.
- Financial Conduct AuthoritysupportingFinancial Conduct Authority is a partner of BTF 2025, engaging with the tech ecosystem and demonstrating regulatory interest in fintech and diverse talent.
- Rewriting the CodesupportingRewriting the Code (RTC) is a partner of BTF 2025, supporting the event and aligning with its mission of diversity and inclusion in tech.
- BBCsupportingBBC is a partner of BTF 2025, providing media support and engaging with the diverse tech professional audience.
- Expedia GroupsupportingExpedia Group sponsors BTF 2025, demonstrating commitment to diversity in tech and engaging with the event audience.
- SamsarasupportingSamsara sponsors BTF 2025, supporting diversity initiatives in tech and connecting with diverse tech talent.
- Just EatsupportingJust Eat sponsors BTF 2025, providing CV clinics and career support while demonstrating commitment to diverse hiring.
- ColorintechcoreBTF is produced by Colorintech, a UK non-profit organization. Colorintech organizes and operates the Black Tech Fest event, leveraging their network and expertise in supporting underrepresented professionals in technology.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Black Tech Fest competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- TechCrunch Disrupt: TechCrunch Disrupt is a large multi-stage tech conference featuring founders, investors, and enterprise sponsors; it shares BTF's conference-format GTM but targets a generalist startup audience rather than a culture/diversity niche.
- Collision Conference: Collision is a large multi-track tech conference (previously Toronto, now US-based) covering startups, enterprise tech, and investors, with a similar speaker/sponsor/expo structure to BTF.
- The Next Web (TNW) Conference: TNW Conference is an Amsterdam-based annual tech gathering for startups, enterprises, and investors; it overlaps with BTF on European tech-event positioning and tiered sponsorship structure.
- AfroTech (Blavity): AfroTech is the flagship conference of Blavity Inc. focused on Black professionals in technology, making it the closest direct peer to BTF in audience, mission, and event-driven GTM motion.
- Money 20/20: Money 20/20 is a major financial-services conference with a tiered sponsor model (Gold, Afterparty, Supporting) and corporate-recruitment focus, directly analogous to BTF's sponsorship GTM.
- Slush: Slush is a Helsinki-based annual tech conference convening founders, investors, and enterprise partners, with a comparable speaker-and-sponsor-driven model and similar European footprint to BTF.
Emerging players
- Grace Hopper Celebration: Grace Hopper Celebration is the largest convening of women technologists globally, run by AnitaB.org; it overlaps with BTF on diversity-in-tech audience and corporate-sponsor recruitment use case.
- Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit: Lesbians Who Tech is a community and summit focused on LGBTQ+ representation in technology; it overlaps with BTF on diversity-in-tech audience, mission-driven positioning, and corporate-sponsor pipeline.
Broad incumbents
- Web Summit: Web Summit is Europe's largest generalist technology conference, operating multi-city editions (Lisbon, Rio, Qatar, Vancouver). It competes with BTF for European tech-event mindshare and corporate sponsorship dollars but does not focus on culture or underrepresentation.
- SXSW (South by Southwest): SXSW is a large-scale culture+technology+music conference that shares BTF's 'culture + tech' positioning and afterparty-driven programming, though at vastly larger scale and with a global audience.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Black Tech Fest social profiles
Digital presenceBlack Tech Fest financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Black Tech Fest leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Black Tech Fest funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Black Tech Fest M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Black Tech Fest
What does Black Tech Fest do?
Black Tech Fest (BTF) operates an annual in-person innovation and culture conference at Tobacco Dock, London. It sells tiered individual tickets (Day Pass £40, Day Pass + Party £55, VIP £250) granting access to sessions, keynotes, workshops, networking, recruitment expo, and an official afterparty, while monetizing the event audience separately through multi-tier corporate sponsorship packages that deliver brand activations, booth space, stage presence, and recruiting access. The platform is built and run by parent nonprofit Colorintech and leverages its established network of diverse tech professionals.
Is Black Tech Fest a public or private company?
Black Tech Fest is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Black Tech Fest founded?
Black Tech Fest was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Black Tech Fest based?
Black Tech Fest is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Black Tech Fest make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Ticket Sales are the primary driver. The others are sponsorship & Partnerships.
Who are Black Tech Fest's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are TechCrunch Disrupt, Collision Conference, The Next Web (TNW) Conference, AfroTech (Blavity), Money 20/20 and Slush. Emerging players are Grace Hopper Celebration and Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit. Broad incumbents are Web Summit and SXSW (South by Southwest).
Does Black Tech Fest have an API?
No public API is recorded for Black Tech Fest.
What industry is Black Tech Fest in?
Black Tech Fest's product category is Innovation and Culture Conferences. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAHABAB, Industry-Specific B2B Trade Show Organizers, with a secondary code of THAHACAK, Sponsorship, Exhibitor & Partnership Management Services. Its NAICS code is 56192.