THE SCALE-UP SUMMIT: Navigating the Innovation and Business Support Ecosystem

The Event

Join the ScaleUp Summit, as part of Birmingham Tech Week.

Starting a business can be hard, scary and often lonely. The Startup & Investment Zones at the ScaleUp Summit, will help budding entrepreneurs and growing startups navigate the tech ecosystem with loads of support organisations willing and able to help.

Hear from later stage businesses and learn from their challenges as well as having time to mingle and build that all important network.

Join the main stage for their keynote speaker, Malcolm Harrold, Scale Up Director at Innovate UK EDGE, and the follow-on panel session ‘Navigating the Innovation Support Ecosystem’.

Meet the panel:

• Ian Vickers, CEO MetCloud
• Helen Maddocks, Founder and CSO Inocardia ltd
• Mohammad Nazir, Chair and MD Smartella ltd
• Chair: Pam Waddell, Innovation Alliance WM

You’ll also get the opportunity to join the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator projects in the expo arena, where you’ll be able to find out more on support available through this £33 million government funded initiative.

Whether you’re working in healthtech, cleantech or any tech between you’ll find advice, networks, grants and a whole range of support available to West Midlands businesses.

In addition, you will meet representatives from Business Growth West Midlands, the regions gateway to business support and Innovate UK Edge, sharing their knowledge on the broad spectrum of Innovate UK funding services available to support your scaleup journey.

AGENDA:

• 09.30-10:00 – Innovation support for starting and scaling businesses:
• Innovation Alliance WM networks and support – Pam Waddell, Director
• Innovate UK Edge Scale-Up Programme – Malcolm Harold, Scale-up Director Innovate UK EDGE

• 10.00-10.45 Navigating the innovation and business support ecosystem – the business view:
• Hear from our panel of entrepreneurs who have started and scaled a business in the West Midlands talking about the support they have accessed to set them on their growth trajectory

• All day from 11.00 (15 minutes ‘clinics’ every 30 minutes) Navigating YOUR innovation support ecosystem – getting started:
• In the exhibition zone, Simon Spink (Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands) will run a series of ‘clinics’ for up to four companies at a time to help them understand where and how to start to engage with innovation support in the West Midlands