About
We are new, and we are going to say so.
Smart Path Studio is the startup arm of Smart Path IT Ltd — a UK managed IT company. The Studio does the two things a startup needs and usually has to buy from two different suppliers: someone to build the product, and someone to run the infrastructure, security and compliance underneath it.
The awkward part, first
We have no case studies on this site
Not a wall of logos, not anonymised “a leading fintech”, not a testimonial with a stock photograph attached. The Studio is new. We would rather tell you that than dress up a thin portfolio, because a founder who finds out later has every right to wonder what else was dressed up.
When we have projects we can show you, they will be real, named or properly anonymised, and published with the client’s written permission. Until then, what we can offer you instead is the thing on every other page of this site: our actual prices, our actual method, and the terms on which you could leave. Those are checkable today.
If you want references for the managed IT side, ask us and we will put you in touch with Smart Path IT clients directly.
Why we publish the prices
Because nobody else does, and we could not work out a good reason for it
Before setting these prices we checked every UK firm doing something close to this — startup studios taking equity for build work, and managed IT firms selling to small teams. Here is what we found, as at 16 September 2026:
Ronins
Names the model clearly — "we reduce our normal fees and take a bit of equity instead". No day rates, no fees, no equity percentage. Their /pricing/ page returns a 404.
The Startup Factory
States a "startup-focused sweat equity model" twice. No figures beyond an investment range.
MassLight
"MassLight becomes a partner with an equity stake." No percentage, no fee, no cash component.
UK managed IT
totality services, Sereno, Aztech, Qual, Ratcliff and Techzura all hide behind "contact us". Sereno’s page is titled "Transparent Fixed IT Support Pricing" and contains no prices.
The best operators in the wider market already work this way. Y Combinator’s entire deal page is one screen of terms with no marketing copy. Antler publishes its £40k programme fee. Carbon13 states that £60k of its £150k investment comes straight back. Nobody made them do it. Publishing the uncomfortable part is exactly why the rest gets believed.
There is a self-interested reason too, and we may as well name it. A founder who can see the numbers either self-selects out before we both waste an hour, or arrives already knowing they can afford us. Both outcomes are better for us than a pipeline of calls that go nowhere.
The parent company
Smart Path IT Ltd
The Studio is a trading name of Smart Path IT Ltd, registered in England & Wales, company 16935628. The Run tiers on the pricing page are delivered by the same team and the same tooling that runs Smart Path IT’s managed service — which is why the Scale tier is simply Smart Path IT’s standard rate rather than something invented for this site.
Ask us something sharp
If there is a hole in any of this, we would genuinely rather hear it from you than not hear it.