Industry leaders from Lifted Ventures, Par Equity, Praetura, DSW Ventures and more will be speaking at Prolific North’s upcoming Tech Companies to Watch event.
The event, sponsored by business advisory firm Sedulo, will be hosted on 17 October from 5.30pm at Bruntwood SciTech’s No.1 Circle Square in Manchester.
It marks the third year of this popular initiative from Prolific North, designed to celebrate ambitious tech start-ups across the North of England and Scotland that have a great idea or solution from improving diversity, healthcare or sustainability initiatives to achieving impressive growth in a short period of time.
As well as an exclusive first-look at the list on the night, expect a jam-packed evening where you can connect with rising stars and experts across the tech ecosystem and leave with plenty of valuable insights and tips.
The event will kick off with a talk from a major tech company who will be sharing their lessons, setbacks and successes along the way, we’ll be revealing more on this soon. Following a reveal of the 15 tech companies on this year’s list, there will be a dedicated panel session on the do’s, don’ts and tips around raising investment from experienced leaders across the investment world.
The first leader joining the panel is Helen Oldham, co-founder of Lifted Ventures, focused on increasing early-stage capital for female founders. Lifted offers an angel network, investment literacy, and a supportive founder community. Oldham also serves on the UKBAA Board and the Women Angel Investment taskforce. She co-founded Fund Her North to advocate for equal access to finance for female founders and was a Founding Board Director of NorthInvest. Previously, she was managing director of the Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman.
Keith Benson, co-founder of DSW Ventures, will also be joining the panel. He co-founded DSW Ventures in 2018 to address the funding gap for regional UK start-ups. A graduate of LSE and a qualified Chartered Accountant with KPMG, he has extensive experience as an investor and M&A adviser, particularly in ecommerce, software, and deep-tech. With over a decade in fintech, Benson’s expertise helps technology founders create value in their businesses.
They will be joined by Dr Elizabeth Young, investment manager at Par Equity. Young is responsible for deal origination, investment appraisal, due diligence, fundraising, investment execution, and managing follow-on funding for portfolio companies. Also known as Lizzy, she has previously worked at ACF Investors, specialising in healthTech and deepTech investments. Lizzy holds a PhD in Medical Engineering from the University of Leeds, where she researched spinal cord injury and worked on a digital health start-up project.
Andy Barrow, Partner at Praetura, will complete the panel.
More speakers will be announced soon and it’s set to be yet another unmissable event for anyone across the tech ecosystem but spaces are limited – make sure you secure your FREE ticket here.
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