Leicester Start-Up Week offers new opportunities for young businesses
From 18-24 November 2019 the University of Leicester and De Montfort University along with businesses and organisations across the city will unite for the second annual Leicester Start-Up Week.
The programme of events, led by the University of Leicester Innovation Hub, are aimed at helping innovative and scalable businesses to grow. There will be opportunity to connect with fellow entrepreneurs and learn about accessing investment.
The Leicester Innovation Hub is a £5.1m programme invested in by the University of Leicester and the European Regional Development Fund. It is a long term project and exists to support start-up businesses and help to turn research expertise and business ideas into innovative products, services and processes.
Entrepreneur, Ben Ravillious, Director of Leicester Start-ups and one of the organisers behind Leicester Start-Up Week, said: “There’s a vibrant start-up community coming together in Leicester. We want to create a collaborative space that helps ambitious entrepreneurs get the support they need to scale and grow their businesses. When those start-ups are supported and able to attract investment everyone benefits.”
Professor Iain Gillespie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research and Enterprise at the University of Leicester said: “As a university, we’re committed to supporting enterprise and the Leicester Innovation Hub serves a critical role in helping our local businesses become more innovative and ultimately even more successful.”
The week’s events include:
- Investor Masterclass – an opportunity for entrepreneurs to connect with investors, such as British Business Bank and Seedrs
- “Meet the Start-Up” event - hosted by start-up Snap’s CEO Thomas Ableman – Snap use technology and the power of community to disrupt the travel industry
- Female Founders Club - their inaugural Leicester meet-up
- Start-Up Café - led by University of Leicester student entrepreneur, Domingo Armengol Arcas, who will talk about his business Uni Cycle Solutions
All of the events can be booked online.
Start-Up Week has been organised by the Start-Up Leicester Co-Working Project. It is a collaboration between the University of Leicester, De Montfort University, LCB Depot, Cooperative & Social Enterprise Development Agency (CASE), Leicester & Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), Ultimate Web and Leicester Startups.