YCF Annual Conference 2023: Exits seen from both sides

Friday 15th September 2023, 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.

All young companies taking equity investment from business angels or institutional investors (venture capital, private equity, corporate VC) need to recognise that the investors will at some point need to exit the business, to recoup their investment and hopefully make a profit.  This can be by means of a trade sale, or less likely by an IPO on a stock exchange.  This year’s conference aims to examine the judgments involved in all aspects of exits; how they are addressed at the time of first investment, how companies and their investors work together towards a satisfactory outcome, and what an exit by the investors means for the company’s founders and employees.

We will have presentations by investors (business angels and VCs), young companies at start-up stage, entrepreneurs who have successfully taken their companies to exit and beyond, and a summary of exits across the UK and USA to illustrate norms and trends.

Our speakers will be highlighting the main exit issues to be considered in the context of a company’s lifetime success, and how they can be balanced to achieve an optimum outcome for both sides.

Speakers

Chair: Ana Stewart, author of the Women in Entrepreneurship report for the Scottish Government, and partner at angel syndicate Eos Advisory

Doug Lawson, MarkToMarket: War, bankruptcy and recession: what is the impact on UK corporate activity?

John McNicol, Kelvin Capital: Understanding each other from the outset

Sarah Barber, Jenson Funding Partners:  Keep your eye on the prize: how to look like a business that should be bought

Panel: Start-up entrepreneurs discussing their experience of agreeing exit objectives with investors,

Panel: Exited entrepreneurs

• Ben Panter, founder of Blackford Analysis, acquired by global life sciences corporation Bayer in January 2023
• Russell Childs, CEO of Optoscribe, acquired by semiconductor giant Intel in 2022,
• Morag McFarlane, founder of Tissue Solutions, acquired by BioIVT, a US based biospecimen research organisation, in 2021.

Joint presentations by YCF annual sponsors and client companies:

TalentSpark:  Growing a team towards exit

Marks & Clerk:  What is your IP worth to a third party?

Burges Salmon: The perfect exit – legal and commercial considerations

Audience

Up until the time of Covid we were regularly able to fill the 150 places available (we limited numbers over the past two years and had 120 delegates in both 2021 and 2022).  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.

Those who are not yet subscribers can book a special package of a ticket to the conference plus a six-month subscription at the introductory rate of £250 + VAT.

Book your ticket HERE.

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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  –  Curadh MTR  –  Cyan Forensics  –  Ecometrica  –  Ergon Equine  –  Estendio  –  Exterity  –  Fixed Phage  –  Float  –  Good-Loop – Glen Communications  –  Intelligent Growth Solutions  –  Kymata  –  Letting Cloud  –  M Squared Lasers  –  Mallzee  –  Memex  –  Mpathy  –  NuCana BioMed  –  Pneumagen  –  Red Spider Technology  –  Rocela  –  Safetray (G-Hold)  –  ShareIn  –  SharkTower  –  Skyscanner  –  SMAR Azure  –  SnapDragon  –  Spoonfed  –  Sunamp  –  Tissue Solutions  –  Vert Rotors  –  Wolfson Microelectronics  –  ZoneFox  –  and many others

Analysts, advisers, and others:

AetherWorks  –  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)  –  KKI Tech  –   Lloyds TSB Scotland  –  Marks & Clerk Scotland  –  MIT Entrepreneurship Center  –  Noble Group  –  Noumena Capital  –  PERGALI  –  Raising Partners –  Rationale  –  ScotlandIS  –  Scottish Enterprise  –  Scottish Funding Council  –  Scottish Institute for Enterprise  –  Strathclyde University  –  TalentSpark  –  Tayburn  –  Tech Nation

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Registration

Registration is now open via the Eventbrite site https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/ycf-2023.

 

Sponsors

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

Marks&Clerk:  intellectual property for young companies

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