In partnership with global investment platform Funderbeam, Sensor City hosted ‘The Liverpool Landscape – Funding and Support’ event on Thursday evening.
Timed to coincide with London Tech Week, the event welcomed business leaders – some of whom had travelled from as far as Poland – investors and advisors to showcase Liverpool City Region and the support it provides for the companies that are based here.
Dr Joanne Phoenix, interim Executive Director for Sensor City, opened the Liverpool Landscape event.
“Liverpool City Region has a real entrepreneurial spirit,” Joanne explained. “We have a great ecosystem of tech businesses, academic support and state-of-the-art knowledge hubs to help foster innovation.”
Addressing the skills gap and the need to retain the best talent in the region, Joanne continued: “We have students travelling from all over to study in our Liverpool City Region universities. We need to ensure we have the jobs available to keep them here, and that will come from high-value fast-growth businesses.”
Event partners Funderbeam and LCR Activate , together with Department for International Trade, Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF), Praetura Ventures, and Made Smarter, took to the stage to talk about the funding and support available in the region.
Following that, the audience heard quick-fire three-minute pitches from six innovative SMEs:
- UniZest:Co-founder Peter Miles took to the stage to talk about the new online current account for international students, designed to make student life in the UK easier and less stressful.
- DeSmart– Presenting the Poland-based software house, Sebastian Wrobel, CSO, told the audience about the company’s UK expansion plans and increased focus on the fashion creative sectors.
- Aerodrums– Co-founder Yann Morvan spoke about the innovative compact, affordable and portable product, which has been featured in some of the world’s leading tech media, and the company’s ambitious plans for the future.
- K-Safe –CEO James Duffy presented Busby, the world’s first safety platform for cyclists and motorcyclists due to launch this summer. The platform is currently being trialled by Deliveroo.
- OST Scientific– Oana Stanescu is helping people survive in the digital age through her consultancy work, soon to be taken on a world tour.
- PIN-IoT– Founder Paul Byrne explained how the cloud asset management software platform is helping the waste management sector take control of waste containers to minimise loss, maximise availability and streamline maintenance.
The event closed with a busy networking session where the SMEs and investors discussed how they could work together in future.
