
Companies in Devon have the opportunity to secure a slice of a £250,000 investment at a pitch event, as part of the Like Minds Ideas Festival in Exeter.
After successful events in New York, Helsinki, Bristol and London, the festival is retuning to its hometown of Exeter for a day of inspirational speakers and immersive master classes on Friday 29 September.
Business leaders from global brands including LinkedIn and Lego are talking and running immersive masterclasses at the festival, where regional businesses will have the chance to pitch their entrepreneurial ideas to a panel of investors.
The participants, who will be chosen from a pool of applicants, will have five minutes to pitch their business and share their ideas, and then answer questions. The panel will be made up of investors from Angel & Venture networks, with a collective £250,000 to invest in the most innovative and exciting start-ups.
Whilst final funding decisions will not be made on the day, this event will allow candidates to then follow up with interested parties.
Like Minds founder Andrew Ellis said: “Local businesses can present their business ideas to some of the UK’s most influential investors to try and secure a share of the festival reward. The pitch event is one part of a fantastic business festival that will give our regional businesses an array of opportunities to learn, be inspired and make new connections.”
The latest international speakers to be announced for the festival, entitled ‘From Start-up to Scale up’, are James Poulter, of Lego’s Global Social Media leadership team, and LinkedIn’s Global Content Marketing Leader Jason A. Miller.
Confirmed speakers and masterclass workshops include:
Karime Hassan, Chief Executive and Growth Director, Exeter City Council
James Poulter Head of Social at Lego
Oli Barrett MBE, Co-founder Startup Britain
Minter Dial, Founder of The Myndset
Robert Camp, Managing Partner, Stephens Scown
Bindi Karia, Bindi Ventures
Glenn Woodcock, Exeter City Futures
Luke Lang, Crowdcube
Jason Miller, Global Content Marketing Lead, LinkedIn
Janet Coyle, Director, London & Partners
John Courtney, Stockwood Ventures
Kate Doodson, Cosmic Digital Transformation
Chris Moss, Mav3rick, How to Encourage Creativity Immersive Masterclass
Stephen Bateman, Your Marketing Funnel Immersive Masterclass
Deri Llewelyn–Davis, Strategy on a Page Immersive Masterclass
Dan Simmons, Propellia, Thought Leadership Immersive Masterclass
Glenn Le Santo, Orange Business Services, Content Marketing Immersive Masterclass
Whilst all Early Bird discounted tickets have sold out, a new “Buddy Up” discounted ticket offer is running in July, for £75 for the full day experience, a £120 saving off the full price ticket.