Our sector is built on community: people sharing ideas, supporting one another’s work, and building things together.
At POLYMATHIC, we work within the creative and cultural sector, not around it.
We're technological and production practitioners embedded in networks of collaboration, generosity, and shared learning that help sustain our industry. Our postion shapes everything we build, from events to open infrastructure.
Alongside our commercial work, we invest time, expertise, and resources into strengthening the cultural ecosystem: supporting creative careers, building shared tools, and backing organisations that make the South West more vibrant and resilient.
We support the creative and cultural sector in three ways:
We build open tools and shared datasets that help the sector understand its impact, make evidence-based decisions, and advocate for itself with confidence. Projects like Culture Key are shaped by the community, not just used by it.
We love mentoring emerging creative technologists that are navigating the gap between art and code. We offer strategic guidance, honest feedback, and networking building within the industry.
We back grassroots organisations and community initiatives through sponsorship, network-building, and pro bono technical services - reducing friction for those doing vital work without the technical resources to succeed.
Shared data infrastructure for a stronger cultural sector
Culture Key is the first platform of its kind in Bath & North East Somerset: a secure, anonymised analytics tool that transforms ticketing data into actionable intelligence for the cultural sector.
By aggregating data from organisations across the city, it creates a shared cultural dataset, enabling the sector to understand its activity not organisation by organisation, but at the scale of the entire city. Organisations can evidence their impact with real data, strengthen funding applications, understand audience behaviour, and contribute to a resource that benefits everyone.
Launched in October 2025 through a £10,000 award in partnership with Bath Arts Collective, Culture Key is free to use and will remain subsidised by POLYMATHIC and Bath Arts Collective to ensure accessibility across the sector.
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Supporting sustainable creative technology and production careers
We mentor the next generation of creative technologists - people trying to build viable, values-led careers at the intersection of art, code, and culture. We offer independent mentoring at subsidised rates as part of our wider commitment to building capacity and talent pipelines within the sector.
Through our partnership with the RE-EMERGE programme at Bath Spa University, we provide aspiring creative technologists with structured one-to-one mentoring sessions. This relationship grew naturally from POLYMATHIC being incubated there during our formative years, and reflects our commitment to giving back to the spaces that supported us.
Our mentoring covers strategic career planning, network-building, technology literacy, sustainable freelance and portfolio careers, business founding and early-stage growth advice, and practical signposting to the right people and opportunities.
If you're a recent graduate or emerging creative technologist navigating the gap between creativity and technology, get in touch!
Putting our values into practice
We financially support third sector and community-led initiatives across the city - and where it's more useful, we contribute technical capacity, strategic advice, or hands-on support.
Recently, we sponsored the "Diversity and Inclusion" category at the Radio Bath Charity Awards, celebrating organisations making Bath more equitable and representative. We've also backed grassroots events and initiatives with funding, resources, and pro bono technical services - often quietly, always with the aim of clearing obstacles for organisers working with stretched capacity.
If you're delivering work that benefits the community and could use financial support, technical expertise, or strategic guidance, let's chat.
We’re always open to conversations with cultural organisations, emerging practitioners, and community initiatives.