Innovate UK Digital Investment Showcase
As the UK’s Innovation agency, we have supported over 8,000 businesses with grants and connections that have helped to validate that business’s innovation and to de-risk it from an investor’s viewpoint. Many of those businesses need funding to fully commercialise and grow their businesses. This can be at many stages from seed funding to match the initial grant through to series A, B and beyond to grow the business and scale-up.
Following the success of our first “Investment Showcase” pilot at the start of 2016, Innovate UK has commenced a 3 year programme of investor-led showcasing activities. These provide a highly structured process to introduce businesses who have received funding or support from Innovate UK and who are seeking external equity investment to interested investors.
We are now reaching out to potential investors, VCs and corporate VCs, for the next competitive process that will focus on innovation and technology that is underpinning and enabling digital.
If you are interested in taking part then please contact me as soon as possible so that I can send you detailed information that needs to be completed by Friday 28th April, at which point we will confirm the panel. Selection of the panel will be based on your responses to the detailed information that will be forwarded to you by reply to any expression of interest. It will be based on a demonstration of an active engagement in early stage equity investing in the relevant sector area for the investment showcase, a demonstrable track record of investment, possession of the relevant authorisations, and being prepared to commit to our processes.
This is an investor-led competition and the scope will be developed in hand with the investors selected to form the panel. To that end there will be an investors meeting on 9th May to develop the scope. We will then use this scope to contact suitable companies that the selected panel will shortlist to eventually pitch to that panel for a full day on 26th September and for the morning of 27th September.
This will be the 4th such “competition” and investors involved in the process to date have found it a great opportunity to hear from interesting new companies. They have also found the pre-screening and pitching process allows them to make an informed choice on whether to conduct follow up discussions.
At this stage the competition is only open to VCs and formal syndicates. If you would be interested in finding out more about the process, the time commitment required and how we select our companies and investors then please contact me or the technical specialist responsible for the Digital competition.
Bruce Colley – Access to Finance manager – bruce.colley@innovateuk.gov.uk
Andy German – Lead Technologist – andy.german@innovateuk.gov.uk
