Previous Events
March 2024 - Bristol
Our first visit to Bristol was kicked off the day with another of our Investment Readiness Masterclasses hosted by Gordon Bateman, accompanied by a stellar panel of investors. This session was dedicated to local founders in Bristol, offering engaging breakout sessions, one-on-one interactions, and enlightening #fireside chats featuring impactful figures in the industry.
Later in the day, we dived into our Investor Ladder event, where investors from across the UK converged to connect with local companies and explore all facets of investment and the evolving market landscape across various sectors.
The afternoon featured insightful roundtable discussions along with captivating fireside chats. From investing in disruptive technologies to supporting university spin-outs, we delved into diverse investment opportunities that shape the future.
We extend our gratitude to SETsquared Bristol and Lewis Silkin for partnering with us to make Wednesday happen.
June 2023 - Belfast
Investor Ladder's Belfast debut was intended to showcase Northern Ireland's thriving investment and innovation scene and it did just that. The decision to host Investor Ladder in Belfast was driven by the region's growing status as a hub for investment and innovation. Over the past decade, Northern Ireland has witnessed a remarkable transformation, attracting considerable attention from both domestic and international investors. From advancements in technology to breakthroughs in renewable energy and healthcare, the region has become a hotbed for entrepreneurial activity. The event provided an unparalleled opportunity for attendees to network, share insights, and forge valuable connections.
May 2023 - Climb23: leeds
May 2023 saw Investor Ladder’s first annual summit: Climb. As the UK’s first festival of innovation, industry and investment, Climb23 took over Leeds Dock for two action packed days, welcoming over one thousand delegates each day with 150 active investors in attendance. Over 200 speakers held sessions on four separate stages.
We’re already planning Climb24. If you’d like to be kept up to date, leave your details here:
NOVEMBER 2022 - Leeds
Our November Leeds event was held in partnership with the British Business Bank. Focusing on both Angel and Equity Investment, our panels brought together active investors and entrepreneurs to discuss shared challenges and enjoy some fascinating discussions about VC and Angel funding.
NOVEMBER 2022 - Manchester
Held in partnership with the British Business Bank, our November Manchester event was centred around informal panel discussions that aimed to encourage high quality deal flow within the investment and innovation landscape.
September 2022 - Liverpool
Our second visit to Liverpool brought together key people in all aspects of Innovation and Investment from across the UK, along with an impressive showcase with a focus on both Impact Investment and Healthcare. As usual the event included informal networking and round table discussions addressing industry challenges and opportunities.
UNIVERSITY COMMERCIALISATION CONFERENCE
Investor Ladder returned to Leeds in one of our largest events yet. Our University Commercialisation Conference brought together over 50 university technology transfer offices and commercialisation units, a network of key investors who have actively backed university spin-outs and a selected showcase of investor-ready university spin-outs.
November 2021 - Museum of science & Industry, Manchester
For our last event of 2021 we hosted a ‘celebration of business.’ Taking place at the MoSi in Manchester, we were delighted to be able to bring our network back together in a face-to-face environment for the first time since 2020.
This landmark event included a science and technology showcase from next generation companies, as well as the launch of a new fund: WiSE
June 2021 - ROUNDTABLE Series: Agritech
June 2021 saw the 3rd roundtable in our series take place. Focusing on the agriTech space, this online event took place on the PixelMax virtual events space.
Attendees from industry, innovation and investment were brought together in lively discussion about the shared challenges and opportunities of the AgriTech sector including:
Animal Health
Raising investment in the AgriTech sector
Sustainability
November 2020 - ROUNDTABLE SERIES: UNIVERSITY COMMERCIALISATION
Our last event of 2020 was focused around university commercialisation. The online event featured contributions from spin-out businesses, a number of university Technology Transfer departments, alongside early-stage investors.
During the course of the afternoon, a number of different topics were discussed and explored including:
The biggest barriers to Venture Capital investing early in university spin-outs?
How universities can work to instil more commercial knowledge in their academics?
How universities can be more proactive with reaching out to businesses whose technology base and values align with their research capabilities?
At what point should experienced entrepreneurs and managers be brought into spin-outs?
OCTOBER 2020 - ROUNDTABLE SERIES: Cyber security
Our Cyber Security Roundtable brought industry, innovation and investment together to discuss the shared challenges and opportunities of the cyber security sector.
We were also joined by keynote speaker Roddy Priestley, Director of Cyber Security at SRM who took us through the anatomy of a ransomware attack, viewed through the eyes of an ethical hacker.
Roddy invited us to see the hacker’s journey, demonstrating exactly what a hacker sees. Delegates also had the opportunity to ask questions and to discuss the decisions faced by victims with S-RM’s experienced responders.
February 2020 - Sensor City, Liverpool
2020 will see Investor Ladder visit more cities than ever before and our first event of the year took place in Liverpool. The event was themed around impact investing and we were joined by guest speakers:
Asif Hamid - Chairman of Liverpool LEP, who spoke about the investing potential of Liverpool and Merseyside.
Ed Prior from GP Bullhound who presented research about the number and types of deals that took place in 2019 in the North of England.
Nick Glicher who is the COO of Reuters Foundation spoke about the massive growth impact investing and the reasons why it will be vital for the future of the investment industry.
Andrew Baughen from Soulful Enterprise joined us to talk about the subjective nature of value and how businesses with the right mindset can generate other types of value beyond just the financial.
NOVEMBER 2019 - Nexus, Leeds
For the first time Investor Ladder joined forces with NorthByNorthWest - ICURe (“Innovation-to-Commercialisation of University Research”) which is an Innovate UK supported programme created to help ideas born in the university ‘get out of the lab’ and validated in the marketplace.
Our largest event yet, we welcomed over 120 investors and innovators from around the country.
September 2019 - Kollider, Sheffield
Our first event in Sheffield took place at the city’s new business incubator and proved to be the biggest Investor Ladder yet.
We were joined by guest speakers:
Dan Nord - Games Product Lead at Amazon who talked about the opportunities for investors in the gaming space
Dan Lyons - Best selling author of “Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble” joined us to talk about the problems associated with company culture in Silicon Valley.
Vikki Sly - CPO at Blue Prism and Chris Quickfall - CEO of CognAssist took part in a panel discussion about the importance of teams being both culturally and cognitively diverse.
June 2019 - Manchester Hall, Manchester
We were joined by special guests:
Kim Scott author of ‘Radical Candor’ who took questions from the room about how investors should use radical candor with their portfolio businesses.
Sarah Underwood from the University of Leeds talking about creating the UK’s first non-executive director training programme.
Stuart Thompson from Reorient Consulting and the Institute of Directors talking about the importance of diversity of boards.
February 2019 - Sedulo, Leeds
For our first event of 2019 we were joined by guest speakers:
Tom Riordon CEO of Leeds City Council opened the event and spoke about the amazing potential of the UK’s northern cities and what makes them such a great place to base an early stage business.
Zandra Moore from Pan Intelligence and Alex Sheppard from LIG Biowise talking about the challenges facing first time CEOs in understanding a complex investment landscape and getting support and advice from the fight people.
September 2018 - Manchester Technology Centre
The event was opened by special guest Lord Peter Mandelson who joined us to speak about the pioneering innovation coming from the UK’s northern cities and what an opportunity this is for the investment community outside London.