YCF Annual Conference 2022. Beyond the Basics

2022 Annual Conference

Beyond the Basics

 

Thursday 1st September 2022, 09:30 to 15:30

Surgeons Quarter, Edinburgh

 

YCF’s conferences take a broad theme that gives a variety of speakers the opportunity to set out their own knowledge or experience in different ways.

This year, we focus on the business essentials which are crucial to a young company’s ability to survive and grow.  Over the lifespan of a business, founders have a number of critical decisions to make.  Some of these, made early in the development of the company, have effects long into the future.  Founders starting out need to know the basics (and many founders start with little business experience), but getting the basics right is essential for future-proofing the company’s continuing progress.

Our speakers will be highlighting the issues which they consider basics in a number of different contexts – staffing, marketing, operations, and finance – and explaining how getting these right can accelerate a company’s development, and making the wrong call can create a legacy which takes a long time from which to recover.

 

Speakers

The conference will be chaired by Lynne Cadenhead, chair of Womens’ Enterprise Scotland.

We have invited our sponsors to make joint presentations with client companies, so that they can highlight some of the ‘basics’ in different areas and discuss how they have been addressed in specific cases:

Finance:            Steedman with client company Letting Cloud

Legal:               Burges Salmon with client company tbc

IP:                    Marks & Clerk with client company Pneumagen

 

Additional speakers include:

Kevin Parker, KKI Tech:  The Past and Future: 25 years of technology commercialisation in Scotland’

Gary Torbett, Scottish Enterprise, Team Leader Financial Readiness:  Prepare for funding; What is right for your business?’

Rowan Morrison and Svein Clouston, Rationale:  Marketing early stage growth companies: Why brand matters

Adrian Smith:  Then and now – from YCF’s first conference to its 20th anniversary’

Audience

Over the past five or more years we have been able to fill the 150 places available (120 last year due to COVID restrictions).  The audience is likely to be a mix of 25%-30% delegates from young companies, 20% – 30% investors, with the remainder professional advisers, universities, incubators, public sector agencies – all working with young companies to help them grow and develop.

 

Speakers and presenters at previous YCF conferences have included a wide range of organisations active in this sector, from across the UK and further afield, including the following:

 

Investors and funders:

Albion Ventures  –  Alida Capital  –  Archangels  –  BGF  –  Cambridge Gateway  –  Carbon Trust  –  Cisco Systems  –  Converge Challenge  –  Coppertop (Ian Ritchie)  –  Crowdcube  –  Design Council Spark  –  Enterprise Ventures  –  Eos Advisory  –  Foresight Group  –  Green Angel Syndicate  –  Horizon 2020 SME Instrument  –  IBM  –  Investing Women  –  IP Group  –  Kelvin Capital  –  London Stock Exchange AIM  –  Longwall Ventures  –  Lundbeckfonden Ventures  –  Maven Capital Partners  –   Mercia Technologies  –  NESTA  –  Octopus Ventures  –  Ohio TechAngel Funds  –  Par Equity  –  Parkwalk Advisors  –  Pentech  –  Piton Capital  –  Quester  –  Scottish EDGE  –  Scottish Equity Partners  –  Scottish Investment Bank  –  Seedrs  –  Sigma Technology  –  Silicon Valley Bank  – Start Up Loans Company  –  SyndicateRoom  –  YFM Venture Finance

 

Young company entrepreneurs:

ACT Blade  –  Amphista Pharmaceuticals  –  Aquapharm BioDiscovery  –  ATEEDA  –  Axeon  –  Big DNA  –  Biopta  –  Blipfoto  –  Blackford Analysis  –  Calnex Solutions  –  Cascade Technologies  –  ClinSpec (Dxcover)  –  Clyde Space  –  Craneware  –  Criton  –  Cumulus Oncology  –  Cyan Forensics  –  Ecometrica  –  Ergon Equine  –  Estendio  –  Fixed Phage  –  Float  –  Good-Loop – Glen Communications  –  Intelligent Growth Solutions  –  Kymata  –  M Squared Lasers  –  Mallzee  –  Memex  –  Mpathy  –  NuCana BioMed  –  Red Spider Technology  –  Rocela  –  Safetray (G-Hold)  –  ShareIn  –  SharkTower  –  Skyscanner  –  SMAR Azure  –  SnapDragon  –  Sunamp  –  Tissue Solutions  –  Vert Rotors  –  Wolfson Microelectronics  –  ZoneFox  –  and many others

 

Analysts, advisers, and others:

Ascendant  –  Beauhurst  –  BIA Scotland  –  BioCity  –  Confidas People  –  Edinburgh Business School  –  Entrepreneurial Exchange  –  FD Solutions  –  FutureX  –  Global Corporate Venturing  –  GlobalScot  –  Innovate UK  –  Invrep  –  Kate Forbes (Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy)  –  Lloyds TSB Scotland  –  Marks & Clerk Scotland  –  MIT Entrepreneurship Center  –  Noble Group  –  Noumena Capital  –  PERGALI  –  Raising Partners –  ScotlandIS  –  Scottish Enterprise  –  Scottish Funding Council  –  Scottish Institute for Enterprise  –  Strathclyde University  –  TalentSpark  –  Tayburn  –  Tech Nation

 

Registration

Registration is now open via the Eventbrite site here.

 

Sponsors

Burges Salmon:  the independent law firm which delivers the best mix of advice, service, and value

Marks&Clerk:  intellectual property for young companies

Steedman & Co:  provide proactive accounting, tax, and business advisory services, specialising in early stage start-ups in the tech and sustainability sectors

TalentSpark:  supporting exciting, inspiring tech and life sciences business growth with the very best talent