Hundreds of delegates have today descended on the Bristol & Bath Science Park for Venturefest Bristol 2011, organised by Science City Bristol.
The aim of the event is to bring new, technology and innovation based business ideas together with the funding and support required to make them grow. Core to Venturefest Bristol 2011 is the ‘Innovation Showcase’ where new businesses will be demonstrating their innovative products and services. New entrepreneurs will also be perfecting their techniques in ‘The Pitch at Venturefest’.
Other highlights include keynote speeches by Paul Magelli, serial entrepreneur and founder of Bristol based Apertio, sold to Nokia Siemens Networks; and Nigel Risner, author, television presenter, motivational speaker, and experienced business coach.
The business community in the West of England has joined forces to support the organisation of Venturefest Bristol 2011. The four universities in the Bristol and Bath area have all provided sponsorship and are represented at the event. They recognise the positive impact that an event like Venturefest can have on bringing businesses and academia together to commercialise new technology.
The business support exhibition brings delegates together with a wide range of business support organisations whose activities are targeted at supporting the growth of technology businesses, including the SW iNets, SetSquared, Veale Wasborough Vizards and Business West. Speakers in workshops also represent the South West investment community, including SWAIN and Eden Ventures. Successful businesses, Icera, Atlas Genetics and Enmodus will be sharing their business journey experiences.
Venturefest Bristol also includes an IP clinic sponsored by Withers and Rogers and EIP, funding clinic, run by Angels Den and the ‘Bite-sized MBA’ course delivered by Rupert Vernalls of Business Information.
To encourage businesses to be creative and innovative in their thinking at Venturefest Bristol 2011, Science City Bristol has invited artists, performers and musicians to take part in the event. As well as encouraging the development of relationships between the between the arts and business communities these activities will help to demonstrate the rich artistic and creative resources which sit alongside the science and technology assets in the West of England. In many cases they sit at the interface between science and arts, between creativity and technology which is part of the unique culture of Bristol and its surroundings.
Becky Sage, Communications Executive at Science City Bristol said:
“The appetite for Venturefest Bristol has been huge, the West of England has a substantial population of entrepreneurs and innovators which has been reflected in the number of applications we received and the number of delegates that have registered. But this event isn’t about large numbers, it is about the quality of ideas and the quality of interaction on the day. We are grateful for the help of expert panels and partner networks who have helped us to generate delegate numbers and ensure the quality of companies that are participating.”
Lorelei Hunt, Director of Science City Bristol, added:
“Even in more difficult economic times, there are still lots of great new business ideas around, but it can seem harder to progress them, even for experienced companies. Venturefest Bristol 2011 will help to ensure that the pipeline of new business ideas, critical for future prosperity, can more easily find the funding and support they need to grow.”
Related link: Bristol and Bath Science Park (South Glos Post)
Source: Science City Bristol
