YCF Conference 2025 – Fuelling Growth: The Right Business Model, The Right Finance

YCF Conference 2025 Agenda

7am – 9am – Showcase and sponsor banner-stand set-up

9am – 9:30am – Registration and networking

9:30am – 9:40am: Welcome from Barry McCulloch & Susan Nightingale

9:40 – 10:00: An anatomy of a scale up funding journey – Alison Grieve, Editor, YCF

10:00 – 10:30: Readying your IP portfolio for investment – Marks & Clerk + panel

10:30 – 10:35: A new approach to event feedback – Shuli Yu, Yush

10:35 – 10:40: Meet the new Angel Capital Scotland Executive Director – Margaret Morton

10:40 – 11:00: Rewards crowdfunding – Judson Cowan, founder, Tettix Games + Sonja Mitchell, founder, Jump Ship Brewing.

11 – 11:30 – Refreshments with the Showcase Companies

11:30 – 12:30: Funders pitch to founders
1. Gemma Stuart, founder of Gut Wealth
2. Nikki Gibson, founder of SWURF
3. Peter Mendham, founder of Bright Ascension
4. Jolene Roberts, founder of Oir Soap
1. Rekha Welsh, Loan Officer, DSL Finance
2. Patrick Burke, BDM, FSE Group
3. Lynne Cadenhead, COO, TRICAPITAL
4. Andrew Noble, Partner, Par Equity

12:30 -12:40: AJ Venter, Partner at Burges Salmon, will provide an overview of the PISCES framework for buying and selling private company shares.

12:40 – 13:00: Beyond Venture Capital: a Guide to Alternative Funding – Scott Paterson, Associate, Burges Salmon

13:00pm – 14:00pm: Lunch with Showcase Companies

14:00pm – 14:15pm: Barry McCulloch / Susan Nightingale present the latest Access to Finance Report from the British Business Bank.

14:15pm – 14:40pm: Financial storytelling – Harry Hussain, Head of B2B at Frame will host a fireside chat with Niki MacKenzie of Archangels

14:40 – 15:05: Eden Scott TalentSpark’s ‘Building Teams for Scale’
• Derek Polowyj of Eden Scott (panel host)
• Hayley Raeper, People Lead at CreateFuture
• Gwen Grant, Chief Administrative Officer, Novosound
• Elaine Ferguson, CFO, ENOUGH

15:05pm – 15:30pm: Derek Shaw, Director of Entrepreneurship & Investment at Scottish Enterprise will host a fireside chat with Shahida Imani, CEO, Singular Photonics

15:30 – 16:00 – Networking