8th Annual Technology Ventures Conference

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PRESS RELEASE

Major conference demonstrates Cambridge at heart of Ideas Economy
Cambridge start-up Qiqqa wins a placement in Silicon Valley

Cambridge, 10 June 2011: The continuing importance of innovation was demonstrated at the highly successful Technology Ventures Conference (TVC), which concluded yesterday. Over 400 attendees from around the world, including investors, blue chip organisations, start-ups and students discussed how sharing ideas can benefit businesses and society as a whole.

Organised by Cambridge University Technology and Enterprise Club (CUTEC), the 8th annual TVC featured distinguished keynote speakers from Procter & Gamble, Virgin Galactic, Shell and Seymourpowell as well as start-up companies who competed for a £3,000 prize and a placement at Silicon Valley’s Plug & Play Center.

“An extremely exciting event”, says Massimo Gaetani, co-founder of BIQ Partners, a leading coaching firm. “I was impressed by the high calibre of speakers and participating start-ups.” Jason Fitzpatrick of the Centre for Computing History adds: “The TVC was a fantastic way to meet people interested to invest in great ideas.”

The conference featured a number of high profile sessions:

  • Staying competitive in an open environment with Mike Addison of Procter & Gamble, moderated by BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones
  • Implementing innovative skills worldwide including speeches by serial entrepreneurs and a conclusion by Dick Powell of international design and innovation company Seymourpowell
  • Interactive workshops on Open Innovation (led by Mozilla), Healthcare (led by GlaxoSmithKline) and Cleantech (led by Shell Springboard)
  • The afternoon session Future Big Ideas included talks by crowdfunding entrepreneurs and a closing speech by George Whitesides (CEO, Virgin Galactic) on the formation of the company.

 

To help drive the next generation of businesses, TVC’s Technology Start-up Showcase ran in parallel with the conference. Conference participants had a chance to choose the best start-up companies who pitched to a panel of investors in Dragons’ Den style. The main prize of £3,000 cash and £3,000 worth of legal consultancy by SNR Denton along with a placement at Silicon Valley’s Plug & Play Center was awarded to Qiqqa. The other finalists Hubflow, Input Dynamics, NovaParking and Play Mob will receive consultancy support from BDO, Martin Bloom, Stradbroke Advisors and Balderton Capital among others.

 

Along with these talks and workshops the Cambridge Diamond Exhibition showcased highly successful and well-established technology companies from within the region. Exhibitors included ARM, Red Gate Software, MedImmune, Plastic Logic, Ubisense and Domino Printing who provided a platform to share, inform and inspire the attendees about building a world-beating technology business.

Interaction and networking at the conference were enhanced by the revolutionary smart phone conference application Yasmo Live and on-line streaming allowed over 400 people from different parts of the world to get involved in the conference. Selected talks and an interview with George Whitesides can be viewed on CUTEC’s YouTube channel or downloaded as audio podcasts.

About CUTEC and TVC
Since 2003 the Cambridge University Technology and Enterprise Club (CUTEC) has been running top class conferences with the aim of bringing together students, researchers and business people in the Cambridge Cluster with leaders of the scientific world, senior executives, high profile venture capitalists, angel investors and entrepreneurs. As well as its annual conference CUTEC also organises workshops and speaker series events throughout the year and effectively supports entrepreneurship from idea to investment.

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