A twelve-week AI cohort, an hour from New Street.
Moonlabs is the operator-led AI Academy in Derby. We run three live companies — Homemove, home.co.uk and homedata.co.uk — and we teach twelve students per cohort to ship a real AI product, sell it to a real customer, and raise on it. Three pillars: Coding, Commercials, Investment. Twelve weeks. £6,000.
Birmingham has the second largest tech economy in the UK and one of the most under-served for serious applied AI training. JLR, HSBC UK, Deutsche Bank, Goldman’s second HQ, BT’s digital arm, Bromford, the WMG. Every one is hiring AI engineers right now. The talent pipeline from UoB, Aston, BCU and Newman is strong; the bridge from undergraduate computer science to production AI engineering is the bit that does not yet exist locally.
The Moonlabs Academy is that bridge. We are James Freestone and Louis O’Connell-Bristow: two operators who run Homemove, home.co.uk and homedata.co.uk; have raised £5m+ for our own companies; and have AI in the editor at all three every working day. Twelve weeks, twelve students, in person, in Derby. £6,000. One hour direct from New Street, services every thirty minutes.
Several Birmingham-based students have done the cohort while keeping a city flat or a campus room. A Birmingham commute to Derby costs about the same as parking near Snow Hill. This is not a relocation question for most of you.
Coding · the stack JLR and HSBC are hiring for
Cursor, Claude Code, Codex; production RAG; agent orchestration; evals; deploy pipelines; observability. A deployed product by week twelve — the artefact that lets a UoB or Aston CV land at the West Midlands AI-native employers actually paying senior rates.
Commercials · the West Midlands SMB market
Birmingham has 50,000+ SMBs spending real money on tools that an AI agent could replace. Pricing, discovery calls, a one-page pilot agreement, the first paying customer. A paid pilot by week six — for many graduates, sold back into a Birmingham business they already know.
Investment · West Midlands Combined Authority + Midlands angels
Cap table, ten-slide deck, financial model, term sheets. The WMCA, Midlands Engine, the Birmingham angel network, Mercia — we know the regional capital, we know who actually writes cheques, and we make warm introductions for graduates raising locally. A live investor pipeline by demo day.
Common questions.
How long is the commute from Birmingham to Derby?
About an hour by direct train from New Street, with services every half hour. The Academy venue is a two-minute walk from Derby station — the practical commute is closer to 75 minutes door to door.
I am at UoB / Aston / BCU. Can I fit this around my degree?
Several past students have. The Academy fits best in a sandwich year or the summer after final exams, with the university aware. We are full-time during the twelve weeks.
What about accommodation in Derby if I want to be on site?
We can introduce you to short-term central Derby accommodation at sensible rates. Cost of living in Derby is roughly half what it is in central Birmingham. Many Birmingham-based students simply commute.
How does this compare to AI courses in London?
Same level of teaching, half the cost of living, a cohort of twelve rather than two hundred, taught by working operators rather than career trainers. The Derby base is a feature, not a constraint.
I am in Coventry, Wolverhampton, Solihull, Worcester. Is it still realistic?
Yes. All under 90 minutes door to door. We have had students commute in from each. If you can already commute into Birmingham city centre for work or study, Derby is no worse.
More Academy entry points.
The Academy is one course with many doors. Each of these pages is a different entry point into the same twelve weeks.
Build it. Sell it. Raise on it. In twelve weeks.
Tell us what you would build and where you are studying or working in Birmingham. James and Louis read every application personally and reply inside the week.
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