Investment success at this year’s Digital Manufacturing Week
Digital Manufacturing Week attracted 6000 industry leaders to their week long virtual conference exploring opportunities for both manufacturers and technology companies. Produced by The Manufacturer, Digital Manufacturing Week is the biggest annual event in the manufacturing calendar.
KTN were very active throughout the week across many elements of the conference:
Our CEO, Alicia Greated, gave a keynote talk at the Leaders’ Summit sharing learning from some of the companies who have had support from across the KTN.
We exhibited at Smart Factory Expo throughout the whole week, and made some good new connections with whom we can create considerable impact.
KTN helped conceive, develop and deliver the Net Zero Arena – a day of talks curated by Innovate UK and KTN, including Rolls Royce, SMEs, DEFRA, Catapults and KTN’s own Nilam Banks who outlined our activities and strategy in this space. Recordings of the event will be available shortly on The Manufacturer and KTN’s websites.
Our digital manufacturing expert Nicole Ballantyne gave a talk alongside ISCF Manufacturing Made Smarter Challenge Director Chris Courtney and Digital Catapult‘s Regional Partnerships Manager George Belias to introduce the Manufacturing Made Smarter programme.
Working closely with our colleagues at Innovate UK, we researched and facilitated the Made Smarter Emerging Tech Show, where we brought together 50 technology solutions companies from across the UK to showcase their innovative solutions to the manufacturing sector. As part of the Made Smarter Emerging Tech Show, we also delivered a highly successful investor readiness programme.
Helping companies get ‘investment ready’
KTN offered companies taking part in the Emerging Technology Show the opportunity to take part in a ‘virtual’ investment readiness programme in the run up to the show. The programme was designed to support early-stage companies raising seed series A investment to develop and deliver investment pitches. It also provided an opportunity to network and connect with the investment community that may not have been accessible previously.
Twelve businesses took part in the training, which included
- Understanding the investment ecosystem and investor perspective
- Value proposition and valuation
- Delivering a pitch
A selection panel chose six companies to go forward to the final investor pitching session to deliver their 7-minute investment pitch including:
Investors from all around the globe including such as BGF, Bloc Ventures, Chrysalix Venture Capital, IQ Capital, Longwall Ventures, M Ventures, Oxford Technology, STL Tech and Linc Scotland were invited to attend a closed session by KTN and Innovate UK to listen to the pitches and question the companies.
Outstanding Results!
Two of the companies who took part are in further discussions with investors to explore possibilities for investment.
The training offered all of the 12 participants the opportunity to develop and streamline their pitch and hone their investment summary. One the SME companies involved said, “I found the programme very professional. I think it is amazing how much time and effort KTN dedicate to help the start-up community.”
An investor commented, “Thank you very much for arranging an excellent event. I thought the format was very efficient and packed a lot into 2 hours.”