The government has announced a shortlist of cities competing for a £50 million funding pot for broadband in smaller cities, which is part of the Chancellor’s last budget. This is in addition to the £100 million promised to a group of 10 key urban centres.

But is this enough to lighten up the UK’s broadband strategy? This question is driving an important debate at the moment, with the Guardian questioning ‘Why Britain’s broadband is heading for the slow lane’ and the House of Lords running an inquiry into changes in the use of digital communications and strategic investment in the long-term prospects of the country.

The concern is that the UK is falling behind when it comes to broadband speeds. Higher capacity is needed to support the move to the cloud, the rise of new media, and growing storage requirements as well as our ambitions in a wide range of areas, from eHealth to distance learning – all of which will have a profound impact on our ability to compete.

Take Tech City as an example: this area of London has been an incubator of tech innovation for some time and attracts start-ups and international companies alike. The success of this area depends greatly on the broadband infrastructure available to ambitious start-ups. As TechWorld points out, it requires a world-class telecoms infrastructure to support the entrepreneurs living and working in the area and attract new business.

The technology to enable tomorrow’s business connectivity needs is available today and Ciena is working with leading service providers to support the Tech City area through scalable fibre networks that can grow at the speed needed by fast growing enterprises. That being said, today’s uncertain economic climate has brought an end to the ‘build and they will come’ model, slowing down the roll-out of telecoms infrastructure essential to the country’s SMBs.

The debate on the UK’s broadband strategy is timely and welcome – and should motivate the industry and the government to work together to find a pragmatic and ambitious solution for this shared, groundbreaking challenge.

 
Please join Ciena for an Open Day at its London offices to learn more about the latest networking technologies, how we support the thriving Tech City area and how in turn we can help improve the competitiveness of local businesses. The open day will include demonstrations of the latest Ciena equipment.

Date: Wednesday, May 23^rd

Time: drop in anytime between 12:30 – 16:00

Location: Ciena House, 43-51 Worship Street, London EC2A 2DX

Additional information and registration available online 

London, 4 May 2012 – The Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) today publishes its inaugural Impact Report, a review of activities and achievements against objectives for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.  The report also lays out initial targets and objectives for measuring the organisations performance in 2012-13.

Established as part of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in April 2011 to support and accelerate the growth of the tech cluster in East London, TCIO had three core objectives for its first year. First, to assist in securing foreign direct investment (FDI) in Tech City. Secondly, to engage with overseas VCs and help them to set-up or start evaluating deal-flow in Tech City.  Third, to support the cluster and raise its profile internationally.

Against its first objective of attracting FDI to Tech City, TCIO helped attract 37 companies to Tech City.  This was delivered against an initial target of 26 companies. Of the 37 companies, the TCIO team directly assisted 26 in investing in Tech City, while a further 11 were delivered by the broader UKTI team, using TCIO collateral and events to assist companies moving to the cluster. In the coming year, TCIO has a target of attracting 50 companies to the area.

In terms of VC engagement, TCIO’s target for its first year was to formally engage with 15 overseas VCs, with a view to helping three begin evaluating deal-flow in Tech City. The TCIO team has started building relationships with 29 leading firms such as Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins, briefing them on the developing ecosystem in Tech City; four of these firms then participated in November’s Entrepreneur’s Festival. While TCIO exceed targets for engagement, there is more that can be done to help overseas investors access deal-flow in the cluster. Targets for 2012-13 include facilitating 50 specific investor pitches for Tech City companies and attracting three overseas investors to establish investment facilities in Tech City.

Underpinning the third objective of support to the cluster were export promotion, mentoring and talent development initiatives, alongside events and marketing communications.  While much of TCIO’s focus in its first year has been to attract inward investment, helping companies expand internationally is a core TCIO role. This will be even more important for the organisation in the coming year, with a target of significantly assisting 25 Tech City companies with international expansion.

The team exceed initial targets of organising 25 events in the UK and abroad, hosting more than 30, including the Entrepreneurs Festival with over 200 entrepreneurs from around the world for a one-week bootcamp with over 80 mentors and the opportunity to pitch to VCs from the US and Europe. The Mentorship programme launched in November 2011, and at least three mentors have continued their relationship with Tech City companies as a result.

In addition to publishing the Impact Report, interested parties are invited to provide feedback on what the organisation’s priorities should be for the year ahead. These will be shared in June.

* * *

For more information, please contact:

The Tech City Investment Organisation: 020 7413 3751 or pressoffice@techcityuk.com

The Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) was created in March 2011, following Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement of the Tech City initiative in the ‘Silicon Roundabout’ area of East London. TCIO was set up by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and is designed to help the existing cluster of tech-digital and creative companies flourish. Tech City stretches out from the financial heart of the City of London to Stratford and the Olympic Park in East London, and is the fastest growing technology cluster in Europe. The TCIO team is a　unique combination of experienced entrepreneurs and UKTI business specialists. Their role is to help　existing companies succeed, as well as attract global business, entrepreneurs and high-value investment to the digital capital of Europe. For more information, visit www.techcityuk.com or www.ukti.gov.uk/techcity  or follow us @techcityuk

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the Government Department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy. We also help overseas companies bring their high quality investment to the UK’s economy – acknowledged as Europe’s best place from which to succeed in global business. UKTI offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and in British embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world. We provide companies with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage. For more information on UKTI, visit www.ukti.gov.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7215 8000. For latest press releases, visit the online newsroom at www.ukti.gov.uk/media.

As you know, it’s been a year since we set up the Tech City Investment Organisation to support and accelerate the growth of the tech cluster in East London. On May 4^th, we’re publishing our first Impact Report, outlining what we’ve achieved in our first year. At the same time, we’re asking for suggestions about what our priorities should be in the year ahead. We’d like to hear from you about how we can help and when we should just stay out of the way.

You asked for more opportunities to connect with Angels and early-stage VCs so this year we’ll be supporting Seedcamp’s Seedsummit, taking place in the TCIO space in Hackney House on August 9th. You asked for mentoring opportunities: we’ve established monthly speed-mentoring events, as well as hosting over 2,000 mentor/entrepreneur meetings in 48h at the Entrepreneurs Festival.  We’ve supported – and will continue to support – the local events scene and are proud to be sponsoring the upcoming Digital Shoreditch festival and Le Web London in June.

You’ll be able to share your suggestions via our website from May 4^th until May 24^th - click here to be taken to the feedback form. We’re also holding a Town Hall event, hosted by Digital Sizzle at Campus on May 17^th and we hope to see many of you there – you can see more details, and apply for free tickets, here on the Digital Sizzle website. We’ll then use your suggestions to help us shape our priorities and we’ll share these with you in June. Of course, you can tell us what you think anytime – by getting in touch with the team  or via Twitter.

We set up TCIO to help support the entrepreneurs and companies already in Tech City and those that would like to be here. So please let us know how we can help the Tech City community to flourish. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Keep an eye on the blog and our Twitter feed for additional details on how to get involved

I’m really pleased to say there’s a new pilot course starting on the 15^th of May, giving young people the opportunity to learn how to make Facebook Apps. The first pilot occurred last year, and you can see how well it went here.

Copyright Alex Rumford

I’ll actually be teaching the session, but not that long ago I was a student on a previous Apps for Good course in 2010. So for me, it feels great to be able to give other young people the same opportunity I had, and actually be able to deliver a course I know I would love to be on myself and know I would have gained from.

There are a few reasons I’d recommend this course….

1)     It’s nothing like school! I went to Uni to learn to code, and unfortunately I just didn’t get what I wanted out of it. You don’t get taught at Uni, you get lectured at.  This was something I really didn’t take to, it wasn’t just me either. Pretty much everyone I knew felt the same way and just became disengaged because of it.

The Facebook-AppsforGood course is nothing like this! You’ll get taught what you need and you’ll get to apply it immediately with quite a bit of guidance too. You’ll also have the support of the students you’re working with and get to teach them too. I’ve seen students who have never done coding before, stand up and teach the whole class something new! By doing that, they’ve reinforced it for themselves as well as rephrased the learning in a way that a lecturer could never have done!

2)     You get to dive right in! A lot of people love the idea of learning to make their ideas a reality, but in reality they never get the chance to, as they’re stuck having to read pages and pages of information. We’re not about that, you’ll hit the floor running and will be creating/coding within the first day! If you want some tips on how to be a good coder check this article out.

3)     Skills you won’t get anywhere else. One of the best things about the course is the skills we pass on that you just don’t get to learn in school. Skills like networking–I’m not talking about how to shake someone’s hand and smile. I’m talking about how to build a real connection and why people fail to do this. On our last course we even went to an event and demo-ed how to get someone’s card you wanted to do business with and how to follow it through! 

4)     Facebook is Huge! I’d be crazy not to mention (and you’d be a hermit not to already know) that Facebook is growing and growing, and along with it are a massive amount of opportunities too. Although we’re in a recession, the tech industry is booming and you’ll get to understand why that is and how you can be a part of it.

5)     Experts. This course has been developed with the help of leading organisations like Facebook and Techlightenment, with experts even visiting the course and giving personal advice on their own journey too. You’ll also get to pitch your group’s idea at the brand new Facebook headquarters in London! Apprentice..Dragons’ Den… Eat your heart out!

Oh and did I mention it’s free? Remember-apply now, the deadline is the 27^th

Apps for Good is the brainchild of non-profit organisation CDI Europe (part of the CDI global network), in partnership with Dell and supported by people and businesses in the tech and creative world including O2, ThomsonReuters and Ogilvy. 

During the Apps for Good course, students go through a kind of entrepreneurial process whereby they identify what is wrong with their world before designing a way of fixing it with a mobile app. We combine a broad range of areas in the course, giving young people a foundation in entrepreneurship, community involvement, problem-solving and team work, as well as design and some technical skills.  Learn more about the course. Apps for Good develops talented and employable young people in an industry with plenty of room for creativity, prosperity and employment.

Satwant (aka Sat) was always keen to develop software that could change people’s lives for the better. He finally got that opportunity when he applied for Apps for Good in 2010. After successfully completing the course and creating the Stop and Search app, he went on to become an Educator for Apps for Good giving young people the same opportunity he was given. In 2011 he successfully completed teaching the first ever apps for good course in a school in central London, as well as project managed, created and taught the new Facebook-AppsforGood pilot course, and is now focusing on refining it. As well being an Educator for Apps for Good, Sat has recently worked with RIM to bring the Stop and Search app onto Blackberry App World and is designing and creating more innovative apps in his spare time.

Our latest guest blog looks at the lessons startups can learn from a military background, and comes courtesy of James Swanston, of East London startup Carbon Voyage. As a former member of the armed forces, James shares his thoughts on how to apply those learnings to his current entrepreneurial career…

The topic of leadership is very important in the army, as it is for any start-up enterprise. Actually, start-ups are a bit like military operations – high pressure environments, uncertainty, resource constraints, adversaries and so on.

The experiences of being in the military can provide invaluable lessons for start-ups, some of which I’d like to share below as someone who has now left the army and is running a business.

No plan survives first contact with the enemy (pivoting)

Flexibility is a key principle of military engagement. The enemy will not always do what you expect, or what you wish they would, and you will rarely have the resources you need or want. Having a plan is great to draw out possible issues but focusing on developing a plan at the expense of delivery can be just as bad.

A point also exists where you just need to go on and complete the mission even if the situation isn’t perfect.

Similarly, start-ups have to be flexible and able to deal with the realities of a live product or service because until you reach that stage, everything is purely hypothetical.

Being a leader and making decisions

Leadership can be tough, as can be trying to even define what leadership is all about. What is really tough though is that ultimately you need to have moral courage to make hard decisions. In the army, this means sending people in to harm’s way and sometimes doing things that you don’t want to do but know you have to. Running a start-up is precisely the same, and if you can’t be a leader, then you really shouldn’t be in charge.

Mentors

Young officers are assigned a mentor when they command a platoon of thirty soldiers – it’s called a sergeant. The sergeant is very important in helping the less experienced but highly enthusiastic platoon commander learn the ropes and stay out of trouble.

When I had my first business in Australia, I didn’t have a mentor and that was quite an oversight. Find someone with experience that you trust and listen to them – it can make all the difference.

Perspective

Running a start-up and being innovative is a really great and rewarding experience and there is no way that I would want to do a “normal” job. However, it is also true that start-ups can be challenging, and risk becoming a “million dollar MBA” if it all goes wrong.

But even when things go wrong, it never comes close to when things go wrong in battle. Remembering this helps, even if you haven’t been there.

The other great thing about having this perspective is that it also highlights that you should do something that you love doing. Life is too short to do otherwise!

I and others I know have had to learn a lot of these tips the hard way – hopefully you will be able to learn from my experience.

James Swanston is founder of Carbon Voyage, a company that helps travellers get from A to B without costing the earth. Prior to that, he served in the Australian and British Armies with service in East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan (and a few other places). A slightly different version of this post first appeared on Shift Business.  

There is without a doubt an array of creative entrepreneurial talent within the UK, and recently there has been much talk about the need to stimulate the economy by promoting innovation and entrepreneurship within the technology sector.

At Cisco, we believe there is still a lot of work to be done to take British innovation and entrepreneurship to the next level and so, as the official Network Infrastructure provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, our focus has been on helping to build a brilliant future for Britain during and beyond the Olympic year by creating initiatives that have a long term contribution to the UK. Initiatives that will develop and support the sustainable growth of innovative start-ups and SMEs, which are integral to the future of UK business.

The UK has one of the world’s strongest digital markets, and the ICT, software and digital content sectors are worth £100bn combined. As a nation, we have a great opportunity to put Britain at the forefront of technology innovation and by nurturing the innovators of today, we can ensure that Britain fulfils its potential as a global technology hub. It was with this in mind that we created the BIG Awards – an annual open innovation competition which will reward winners with a prize package of cash, expert mentoring from Cisco, and a support package covering PR, marketing and legal services to help them grow. The Awards form the latest development in our longer term initiative the British Innovation Gateway (BIG) – a significant five-year investment of cash, technology and resources, which aim to develop Britain’s innovation ecosystem and create an environment in which start-up digital businesses and their ideas can flourish.

At the heart of the Government’s goals of driving economic growth through high- tech innovation, the competition provides the great minds of today an opportunity to showcase their innovative ideas and be rewarded with the mentoring, resources and investment they need to prosper.

All early age start-ups and talented individuals, aged 18 and over within the UK are welcome to enter the competition and submit their technology ideas into one of five categories, which represent some of the most relevant technology challenges and trends of today, including big data, internet of things, mobility, future cities and collaboration. There have been an amazing amount of creative ideas and concepts submitted already, and I’d personally like to urge every budding entrepreneur and start-up to enter. Cisco is fully committed to supporting open innovation – and we believe that it shouldn’t just be about giving just cash to start-ups and SME’s, but about offering the support and services that the start-up community need to accelerate their development and really thrive.

I have worked with countless SMEs over the years and have been lucky enough to meet many talented minds.  Despite the economic challenges we face, entrepreneurs of today are hungry for opportunities, relentless and dedicated. This is why, while it is important that we lay the foundations for the start-ups and SME’s of the future, we must also recognise the importance of shining a spotlight on the undiscovered entrepreneurs of today and focus our efforts in helping them to develop.

The BIG Awards is an integral component in our mission to promote and encourage UK innovation and help kick start the new generation of entrepreneurism. We believe that together with the government and other partners we can truly help inspire the minds of the entrepreneurs of today and build a brilliant future for Britain.

The deadline for the Cisco BIG Awards has been extended until midnight, 1^st May, so register now at www.thebigawards.co.uk.

Phil Smith is UK & Ireland CEO of Cisco. He was appointed as the Chairman of the UK Technology Strategy Board in December 2011 and hailed as one of the nation’s most influential leaders in the Computer Weekly UKTech50 Awards. Phil has also been recognised by the Deputy Prime Minister and other influential figures at the Women of the Future Awards with the ‘Mentor of the Year’ accolade for his personal commitment to supporting UK women of the future in schools and business.

He has a thirty year track record within the ICT industry, advising leading global organisations in the private and public sector on how to drive transformation, productivity and sustainable growth. Phil is a passionate advocate of technology and innovation to the region’s business and political leaders, sitting on a number of boards including Young Enterprise, The Employers Forum for Disability, Chairman of e-Skills UK and a member of the Foundation for Science and Technology, CBI, Intellect, CriticalEye and the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE).

Over the past year, Phil has championed the British Innovation Gateway (BIG) programme in support of driving UK growth through technology entrepreneurship and STEM skills.

When you think of medical practitioners, it’s Harley Street. When you think of tailors, it’s Savile Row. But until recently, if asked to name a world-renowned London location for digital innovation, you’d be stumped. In fact, excluding Silicon Valley, you’d be hard-pressed to identify any other significant digital centres worldwide.

But that’s starting to change, and that’s where Tech City has made a real difference to our industry. There are cutting-edge digital businesses all over the world; businesses innovating with true genius, and in Tech City UK, we have the means to unite the organisations that fit the above description and give them a single voice. That’s powerful.

East London has been an incubator of technological talent for many years. It was the original, ahead-of-their-time start-ups that developed the area to the point that it became attractive for the likes of Google, Facebook and Intel. For smaller companies, being neighbours of such big multinationals isn’t a benefit in itself; what’s useful is an association with a name like Tech City, under which companies like Cisco sit.

The growth of Tech City as a concept, a concept which some of the world’s biggest companies have bought into, lends all businesses in the area a legitimacy and authority that they perhaps wouldn’t otherwise possess.

With 11% of UK GDP, the success and strength of our online industries is of key importance to the growth of the economy. And that growth will happen more rapidly if all of us operating here continue to collaborate in making the name ‘Tech City’ synonymous with digital innovation and expertise, worldwide. We’ll all profit from that.

At Ve Interactive, we decided that we’d look for premises here, once we’d outgrown Mayfair.  Just over one year and over one thousand four hundred clients later, we’ve found our home. We wanted to immerse ourselves in a palpable aura of success, entrepreneurship and optimism. It’s infectious, and it leaves you feeling that the possibilities for your business are truly endless.

To realise these opportunities, we need young, talented people. That’s where Tech City also comes in handy. With its fashion-forward social scene, its music venues, its bars, its restaurants and the wonderful markets, it’s a place that the creative and ambitious individuals we want on board wish to live and work.

If you concentrate a group of digital entrepreneurs in an area, offer them the chance to select a workforce from some of the world’s most able individuals, all of whom relish and thrive in their in-work and out-of-work culture, then add some well-known names and a single, unifying voice, great things will happen.

It’s not rocket science. And we’re excited to be here and contributing to the mix

About Ve Interactive: Ve Interactive is an international data-driven services company, operating in the digital marketing and software sector. Specialising in shopping-cart-abandonment, lead-generation and remarketing technologies for ecommerce merchants, as well as optimisation services, Ve Interactive has a history of successfully increasing online conversions. In 2011 it opened offices in the USA, Australia, Sweden and this year in Brazil too. Ve Interactive is proud to donate its pro-bono services to the charity Concern Universal to assist their digital strategy. It is also a supporter of Race Online 2012,  Global Entrepreneurship and Young Rewired State.

Ve Interactive has been honoured with a TechWorld 2011 UKTI Business Innovation Award, a British Interactive Media Association Award 2011, a Marketing Innovation Award 2011 and a Best Business Award 2011.  In 2012, it has been selected as a finalist for an Econsultancy Innovation Award, a Revolution Award, a Performance Marketing Award and a Drum Marketing Award.

Following the success of the annual Paris event, organisers Geraldine and Loïc Le Meur decided to start a summer session in London after requests from the London technology community to bring Le Web to the UK, at Westminster Central Hall from 19-20 June.

Many well-known players from Silicon Valley will be on hand to share the fruits of their experience, including Highlight and Voxer, two specialist mobile app startups currently making it big west of the English Channel.

“London’s summer LeWeb is not meant to replace the Paris gathering, which will of course still be taking place in December as in past years. This is an extra event, which will help participants keep up with the headlong pace of change, a challenge for everyone involved in this sector. The most obvious example of that at present is Highlight – unheard-of just six months ago. That’s evolution in this industry: things move very, very fast”, explained Loïc Le Meur.

More than 1,000 participants are expected at the first London Summer LeWeb, being held at the splendid Westminster Central Hall opposite the Abbey.

“London was the obvious choice,  not least because of the involvement of UKTI* and Tech City, which gave us a great deal of encouragement; in fact, they’re sponsoring us”, continued Loïc Le Meur.

Commenting on the conference, Eric Van der Kleij, CEO of London’s Tech City Investment Organisation said: “I’m delighted that LeWeb will be arriving in London this summer. As one of Europe’s top technology events, LeWeb’s presence confirms London as a key destination for the international tech community. The development of a relationship between London and LeWeb will help to attract more global tech companies, start-ups and investors to London, and will be a great spotlight for the creativity and innovation of the UK.”

LeWeb Summer will include a StartUp Competition, which will shortly be open for entries.

Space at the London Summer LeWeb and the Paris LeWeb’12 (4 – 6 December) are already on sale at the event’s website www.leweb.net

Press contacts:

For United Kingdom – Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Corinna Fawls

Tel: +442074133053

corinna.Fawls@hkstrategies.com

For France – Megalo & Company Agency

Sandra Codognotto / Sibylle de Villeneuve

Tel. +33 (0)1 7304 6056 or +33 (0)1 7304 6052

scodognotto@megalo-company.com / sdevilleneuve@megalo-company.com

Accreditation requests online to www.leweb.net

*UK Trade & Investment: British government agency providing advice and assistance to foreign firms in setting up or expanding their activities in the UK.

London, March 9, 2012 – An unlikely international diplomacy mission will be underway this week, as Kam Star, founder of East London’s Digital Shoreditch festival heads to South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive in Austin, Texas. At the invitation of Hugh Forrest, SXSW Interactive Festival Director, Star will work with his counterparts on the SXSW team as he looks to bring back insights and experience ahead of the second annual Digital Shoreditch festival, taking place from May 21^st-June 1^st, 2012.

“Within four years, we want to be as significant as SXSW and be recognised as one of the world’s premier events for showcasing the most talented companies and individuals within the digital and creative technologies sectors,” said Star.

More than 2,000 people attended Digital Shoreditch in 2011, which was supported from more than 200 companies, media partners and government agencies including last.fm, the V&A, Wieden + Kendedy, Tech Hub and the Technology Strategy Board.  This year’s event is expected to attract more than 50,000 visitors, with 200 events and 500 companies participating.

Forrest’s invitation to Star came on the back of Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s visit to London in January, when the City of Austin and Borough of Hackney signed a friendship agreement, in acknowledgement of the creative culture that has taken routes in both cities.

“Our ambition for 2012 is to deliver London’s greatest digital and creative tech festival ever,” said Star. “There is an immense amount we can learn from the team behind SXSW, and I look forward to working with them as we gear up for Digital Shoreditch.”

Commenting on the Festival, Eric Van der Kleij, CEO of London’s Tech City Investment Organisation said: “Austin has a thriving community of tech, digital and creative businesses, and events such as SXSW has helped solidify its place among the most innovative clusters in the world. The developing connection between SXSW and Digital Shoreditch will encourage bold thinking and collaborations from entrepreneurs and companies on both sides of the Atlantic, and shines a light on the dynamism and innovation that make both cities ideal places to start and grow a business.”

Digital Shoreditch’s programme is focused on nine themes, ranging from funding and capital, to innovation, inspiration and marketing. It also includes a public exhibition weekend and hackathon, and will see the culmination of the Race for Apps competition, a London 2012 contest to recognise ideas for apps for visitors attending the Olympic Games this summer.

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Notes to editors:

For more information, please contact hello@digitalshoreditch.com

Digital Shoreditch is a not for profit, grass root, industry-led community dedicated to fostering connections and celebrating the outstanding creative, technical and entrepreneurial spirit flourishing in east London and Tech City. The Digital Shoreditch 2012 Festival will run from 21st May to 2nd of June 2012 where we will be showcasing the outstanding innovation in the UK’s premier digital and tech startup capital.

The inaugural festival in 2011 attracted contributions from 180 companies, where 2000 people attended 50 events in the first week of May. We are planning to showcase 500 companies and individuals for a phenomenal celebration of our capabilities, attended by over 50,000 people in 2012.

London, 9 March 2012 – A promising group of London entrepreneurs will join leading business figures this afternoon at top law firm Hogan Lovells as part of the Tech City Investment Organisation’s (TCIO) monthly mentoring programme.  This is the third session from TCIO’s mentorship programme, which brings together industry leaders with digital start-ups and entrepreneurs for “speed mentoring”, providing training and expertise, and helping to foster collaboration in the community.

Today’s session will be led by Paul Massey, Director of Mentorwell.com. Focusing on how start-ups can package themselves to grow, the session will include coaching on common business challenges, including accessing funding, pitching and legal issues. Mentors offering advice on these topics include entreprenuers who have tackled some of these early stage challenges including Matt Robinson, founder of Tech City startup GoCardless; business development and performance coach Annette Kramer; Steve Kennedy, founder of CityMeetsTech; as well as Entrepreneurs in Residence at Kingston University’s Enterprise Business Awards.

Lawyers from Hogan Lovells will also be on hand to offer information and feedback to attendees on the common legal challenges start-ups face. Key issues to be covered include information on what entrepreneurs need to cover off to attract investors, intellectual property rights and issuing shares.

“Understanding how to package your business in the right way is vital for attracting investment and fostering short to long term growth.” said Massey. “Speed mentoring can be effective as it gives startups the chance to learn quickly from a range of people who have already had successes and failures in navigating business challenges.  Speed mentoring can also forge longer term trusted mentoring relationships which mentorwell.com is designed to support. The combination of practical and legal teaching at today’s event aims to equip the young start-ups attending with the tools to package their business for success.”

Commenting on the most recent speed mentoring session, mentee Nick Holzherr of Recip.ly said: “The one-on-one format worked really well for feedback because rather than read out questions or feedback in front of a panel, mentors were much more hands on and detailed in their responses. I doubt anyone would attend without making a number of changes for the better. The feedback we received was invaluable.”

Participants at this month’s event are a selection of 18 of TechCity’s start-ups working in diverse markets reflecting the breadth of industries impacted by TechCity.  Startups involved include a company working in the space sector, a social menu application, an online building development and planning portal, online fashion and art start-ups and a new recruitment community for creatives. Entrepeneurs from London Business School will also be attending.

“Mentoring can play a vital role in the development of entrepreneurial talent, and a good mentor will be able to support start-ups as they move through different stages of development,” said Andrew Humphries, Tech City Ambassador. “One of the most important building blocks of a sustainable community is having is fostering talent, and it is fantastic that Paul and his are playing their part to support these entrepreneurs.”

TCIO launched its mentoring programme following feedback from companies in Tech City and best practices from other tech communities. Mentors and mentees interested in participating can sign up via an online platform – this month, supported by Mentrowell .

People can find out more and sign up to participate as mentors and mentees at future TechCity mentoring events at http://www.mentorwell.com/17-TechCity+Mentoring.

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Media contacts:

For more information on the Tech City Investment Organisation, please contact:  020 7413 3751 or pressoffice@techcityuk.com.

The Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) was created in March 2011, following Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement of the Tech City initiative in the ‘Silicon Roundabout’ area of East London. TCIO was set up by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and is designed to help the existing cluster of tech-digital and creative companies flourish. Tech City stretches out from the financial heart of the City of London to Stratford and the Olympic Park in East London, and is the fastest growing technology cluster in Europe. The TCIO team is a　unique combination of experienced entrepreneurs and UKTI business specialists. Their role is to help　existing companies succeed, as well as attract global business, entrepreneurs and high-value investment to the digital capital of Europe. For more information, visit www.techcityuk.com or www.ukti.gov.uk/techcity  or follow us @techcityuk

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the Government Department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy. We also help overseas companies bring their high quality investment to the UK’s economy – acknowledged as Europe’s best place from which to succeed in global business. UKTI offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and in British embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world. We provide companies with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage. For more information on UKTI, visit www.ukti.gov.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7215 8000. For latest press releases, visit the online newsroom at www.ukti.gov.uk/media.

Mentorwell.com is an online collaboration and mentoring platform. The platform supports startups and other people being mentored with peer-to-peer collaboration tools to help people achieve their goals and mark achievements.  For example, mentorwell.com includes a dynamic goal achievement app allowing mentors to suggest tasks, questions, achievements and documents relating to an individual’s personal or business goals.  Mentorwell.com also provides online software and training to help manage mentoring schemes and is supporting a growing network of mentoring schemes in the UK across the business, education and charity sectors.