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Can you feel it? Can you hear it? Yes, it's the blistering, crackling heat from the South Yorkshire Tech 100 – the "hottest" startups and scaleups in the region, published today in a new ecosystem report.It lists the most successful tech companies born since the start of 2000 with headquarters in South Yorkshire and emerging startups with tremendous growth potential. Between them they employ 4,000 people.And it shows tech startup equity funding into South Yorkshire's early-stage tech companies has doubled in the last four years to more than £52m.Darren Balcombe, Deputy CEO at Capital Enterprise and Team SY lead, tells us what's changed to enable such a growth in investment, why now is a critical time for the region, and how we will nurture more entrepreneurs.He also covers why South Yorkshire is a brilliant place for a tech startup, the importance of social-purpose driven firms in the Tech 100, and has must-listen advice on applying for grants from organisations like Innovate UK.South Yorkshire is now home to more than 3,000 tech startups; Darren wants to "turn its emerging startup scene into a strong, self-sustaining engine of innovation and growth, so that South Yorkshire can be home to many more global leaders" – he tells me how.What next?Team SY's South Yorkshire Tech 100 reportThanks for listening, to interviewee Darren of Team SY: weareteamsy.org and Capital Enterprise: capitalenterprise.org and to SheffieldLIve! for broadcasting the show.
Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center: Venture Equity Project Podcast
In this episode of the Venture Equity Project Podcast, Emma Joy Obanye, Managing Director of Capital Enterprise's ‘OneTech', sheds light on the current state of entrepreneurship and venture capital flow in the UK. Through sharing her own experience as an entrepreneur and detailing the work and programs OneTech is doing to build a more equitable future in venture, Emma gives insight into the similarities and differences between the venture space in the UK and US. Emma and host Weilyn Chong also chat about the flaws with the mainstream narrative of entrepreneurship, bootstrapping your business, and what it takes to build a board game. Here are some questions we discuss on the podcast: How has it changed over the last 5-10 years? Where do you think it is heading? What are some challenges that an entrepreneur of color faces when accessing capital in the UK? How are these challenges different/unique to those in the US/other countries? What are some ways the Venture Capital space is moving to a more equitable future? What is the process of getting funding in the UK? What is the mission and vision of OneTech? What have been some of the successes and challenges OneTech has faced?
Anna Flockett and Emma Obanye discuss how she got into the tech industry and the challenges she met along the way
What was it like being an American abroad during the Trump years? How do they feel about the election and the years ahead? Is it time to go back and give back? This week, I brought together three American expats to talk about politics, home, what was broken and what remains. Sarah Browne is veteran innovation catalyst based in London. She is a proud member of IDEALondon, a partnership of UCL, EDF and Capital Enterprise. She is from Wisconsin and California. Geoffrey Cain is a writer and journalist based in Istanbul. He is the author of “Samsung Rising: The Inside Story of the South Korean Giant That Set Out to Beat Apple and Conquer Tech.” He is from Chicago. Lauren Tormey is a content designer at the University of Edinburgh. She has written about her experience of the British “hostile environment” immigration system and wants you to help her change it. She is from New Jersey. ★ Support this podcast ★
Change Makers: Leadership, Good Business, Ideas and Innovation
As founding director of Foundervine, Izzy provides founders with access to training, mentoring and funding opportunities. Since 2018, 2,000 young people have been skilled by Foundervine programmes, $230,000+ raised with 62% female participation. She is an experienced public speaker and has helped people grow at global brands such as Just Eat, Facebook, PwC, Google, AirBnB and more. Izzy is a Non-Executive Director for Capital Enterprise, a body that has raised £814.7m for UK startups and a former trustee for Parkrun. In 2019, Izzy was named by Tech Nation as one of the 50 most influential black voices in UK tech. She now divides her time between the UK and West Africa, delivering start-up and scale-up acceleration programmes designed to transform the digital innovation ecosystem.
Venture Capital in Machine Learning Startups With John Spindler CEO of Capital Enterprise. John Spindler CEO of Capital Enterprise. We talked about what trends he has been seeing within MLOps, ML companies and also how he evaluates a deal. John Spindler has over 15 years experience as an entrepreneur and business advisor/consultant and as well as being responsible for the day to day management of Capital Enterprise he is also a general partner at AI Seed, an early-stage fund that invests in highly talented AI-first companies. John is on a mission to make it possible for someone moderately intelligent, with a good idea, ambition and passion to make it as an entrepreneur. Join our slack community: https://join.slack.com/t/mlops-community/shared_invite/zt-391hcpnl-aSwNf_X5RyYSh40MiRe9Lw Follow us on twitter:@mlopscommunity Sign up for the next meetup: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a_nuYR1xT86TGIB2wp9B1g Connect with Demetrios on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpbrinkm/ Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbspindler/
This is the second instalment of a 2-part conversation with Africlick founder Dayo Akinrinade, which was taped at the fringes of the London stop of Afrobytes' 2018/19 International Event Series. Africlick is a new dating and networking app that aims to connect people of African and Caribbean heritage through their culture, and in this episode, Dayo sketches the magnitude of the business opportunity she is looking to convert and unpacks her company’s growth focus. Dayo holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Manchester and a Masters in Technology Entrepreneurship from University College London, and has spent over ten years working in IT Management Consulting— delivering analytics and financial transformation programmes at Accenture and Deloitte. While embedded at those firms, she designed solutions and led global teams at the likes of the London Stock Exchange, Lloyds Banking Group and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria. Dayo formerly served as a Director at YSYS Consultancy Ltd, where she worked with Capital Enterprise and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation on the OneTech programme, which aims to raise a total of £15.1 million of investment for diverse, female founders. While inhabiting that role, she also delivered "diversity in technology advisory" to Space Camp, Startupbootcamp and Techstars. Currently, alongside running Africlick, Dayo advises two African fintech startups, Akkiba and DTL Cafe. Image credit: Justin Follis
Dayo Akinrinade is the Founder of Africlick, "a new dating/networking app for professionals and creatives of African and Caribbean heritage". Dayo holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Manchester and a Masters in Technology Entrepreneurship from University College London and has spent over ten years working in IT Management Consulting— delivering analytics and financial transformation programmes at Accenture and Deloitte. While embedded at those firms, she designed solutions and led global teams at the likes of the London Stock Exchange, Lloyds Banking Group and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria. Dayo formerly served as a Director at YSYS Consultancy Ltd, where she worked with Capital Enterprise and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation on the OneTech programme, which aims to raise a total of £15.1 million of investment for diverse, female founders. While inhabiting that role, she also delivered "diversity in technology advisory" to Space Camp, Startupbootcamp and Techstars. Currently, alongside running Africlick, Dayo advises two African fintech startups, Akkiba and DTL Cafe. This podcast is the first of a two-part London Village Diaries-themed conversation, which was taped at the fringes of the London stop of Afrobytes' 2018/19 International Event Series. Listen in to hear Andile Masuku catch up with Dayo to gauge the temperature of London's growing community of African Diasporan tech innovators and to learn how Africlick is using unique user profile data to help people connect on the basis of shared culture. Image credit: Supplied
Now for today’s show we thought we would go for something slightly different, as it is August and the investor holiday season is upon us. We thought we would compile some of our favourite quick fire rounds containing the resources that the best investors utilise, giving you the ultimate resource collection so you can head off on your holidays prepared. Discussed In The Show Today: 1.) What is Tim Mills (British Business Bank) morning daily read? 2.) Who does John Spindler (London Co-Investment Fund and Capital Enterprise) say are must follows on Twitter and why? 3.) What does Collette Ballou (Ballou PR) feel are the main benefits of reading fiction? What are here favourites? 4.) What is Tom Britton (Syndicate Room) must read? Learn more about SyndicateRoom: www.syndicateroom.com
Now for today’s show we thought we would go for something slightly different, I have had many emails from people asking about how to get into the world of investing in startups and we thought today we would take some our favourite entrance stories and show you a collection of how they did it. The ultimate guide to how to make your way into the world of early stage startup investing. Discussed In The Show Today: 1.) How Tim Mills came into the industry from the world of banking and came to be at The British Business Bank? 2.) What was John Spindler’s start in the angel investing industry and what is his route to where he is today with the London Co-Investment Fund and Capital Enterprise? 3.) How did Dominic Wilson make the transition from the world of property to the world of property tech investing, now being Managing Director @ Pi Labs. 4.) Every startup founder needs a mentor, so when did Jonathan Pfahl appreciate the importance of mentors and being the founding of Rockstar Mentoring? 5.) Like mentoring, all startups need fantastic PR. So how did Colette Ballou, make her way into the world of angel investing from founding one of Europe’s leading startup PR agencies in Ballou PR? 6.) David Rose is a serial entrepreneur, prolific angel investor, Ted Speaker and multiple author, but how did he first become an angel investor? 7.) An appropriate finish, what is the founding story of Syndicate Room from Tom Britton and what was it about the space that made Tom so excited? Learn more about SyndicateRoom: www.syndicateroom.com
John Spindler is the CEO of Capital Enterprise and a key player in establishing a culture of innovation and investment in the blossoming London tech scene. John has had over 15 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and business advisor/consultant and as well as being responsible for the day to day management of Capital Enterprise is also a director and co-owner of audio designer and manufacturer Ferguson Hill. Today We Discuss: 1.) How John made his way into he world of early stage tech investing? 2.) What does it take to establish a culture of entrepreneurialism and innovation? What comes first, startups or funding? 3.) What further challenges does London face to become the central hub for tech? What can be done to further the progress made in the last few years? 4.) How will Brexit affect the London tech and investing scene? Why is John concerned about the potential of Brexit? 5.) What is the roadmap for John with the London co-investment fund? What is John looking for in potential investments? How has his approach to pattern recognition altered over the last few years? As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here: www.syndicateroom.com and John's twitter page here: www.twitter.com/capenterprise