Skowt Consulting

I am exhausted! 😴 It was such a great pleasure to compere the Tech South West Investment Summit this afternoon, at the beautiful Armada House. We crammed so much in those 5 hours - and the time raced by! We heard Adam Kelly of British Business Bank deliver the key note address, focusing on the great work the Bank does to distribute government investment through various channels and levers. Nikhita Govekar of Beauhurst followed up with an overview of the investment climate in the UK and South West, with a focus on the Summit’s focus - Deeptech. We then had reverse pitches from Chris Oliver of Oxford Innovation Finance, Melanie Goward of Maven Capital Partners, Angel investor and cyber expert Richard Yorke, Matthew Hicks of Fortescue Capital, Harry Alexander of QantX and Catherine Fletcher of SCVC. Followed by a highly informative and entertaining panel, hosted by the indupetedly amazing Edward Tellwright of BBB. After a short breather to grab a coffee top up, we followed up with Lauren Crawley-Moore of the London Stock Exchange. Lauren brought us up to date with developments on the LSE’s new secondary market for unlisted securities, PISCES. A major development that could create liquidity in a currently closed market. Professor Matt Freeman finished the speaker slots with a round up of the great work going on at Future Space - Bristol and University of the West of England to support early stage and scaling Deeptech businesses. I really enjoyed hosting the IP Panel. Intellectual property is such a key element for most Deeptech companies; and so it felt right to dedicate a panel to the creation of, the funding of, the protection of, the valuation of, and the asset class that is IP. We received great insight from Ben Masheder of Innovate UK Business Growth, Charlotte Ebbutt of RWK Goodman, Nathan Hulcoop of Kene | B Corp™, Ian MacIver of Howden, the new name for Aston Lark and Thomas Gigg of Inngot. Finally, we were treated to pitches from three South West based Deeptech businesses - Circular11, Zentraxa and Neuronostics. Connor Winter, Kevin Cox and John Terry smashed it! The whole event showcased the importance the Deeptech sector to the South West, and the breadth of Deeptech Innovation going on outside of the Golden Triangle. I’m deeply proud of the region’s tech sector. Next stop London for the TSW London Showcase in May, to shine the spotlight on South West based tech companies. Can’t wait!

And that's a wrap at the South West Investment Summit 2025! To the 150+ delegates who joined us today - for the deeptech discussions on #AI, #Cyber, #Quantum, #MedTech, #BioTech and #Robotics, plus the engaging panels and live pitching - thanks for making it such a vibrant and insightful event. Special thanks to our brilliant keynote Adam Kelly from British Business Investments and to our exceptional speakers: - Ben Cooper from Angel Investors Bristol - Nikhita Govekar from Beauhurst - Lauren Crawley-Moore from London Stock Exchange - Professor Matt Freeman from Future Space - Bristol And to our expert panelists who shared their knowledge and experience around investment: - Chris Oliver from Oxford Innovation Finance - Melanie Goward from Maven Capital Partners - Cyber investor Richard Yorke - Matthew Hicks from Fortescue - Harry Alexander from QantX - Catherine Fletcher from SCVC And around IP - the creation of, funding, protecting, valuing and treating as an asset class: Ben Masheder, Charlotte Ebbutt, Ian MacIver, Nathan Hulcoop and Thomas Gigg of Inngot. And finally thank you - and well done! - to our awesome pitchers: - Connor Winter of Circular11 - Kevin Cox of Zentraxa - John Terry of Neuronostics Martin Barnes himself would have been proud of the quality of pitches on display. None of this would have been possible without our brilliant partners and supporters: British Business Bank, Access to Finance SW, Angel Investors Bristol, RWK Goodman, Kene | B Corp™ and Howden, the new name for Aston Lark. Your commitment to fostering innovation and investment in our region is truly appreciated. Missed today's event? Don't worry - tickets are already available for the next SW Investment Summit, taking place in Exeter on 15 October: https://lnkd.in/dEMKahqA We're already looking forward to building on today's momentum! #SouthWestInvestment #TechSouthWest #DeepTech #UKTechWeek2025 #InvestmentSummit2025 #Bristol #FinancialFuture

It’s been a busy start to a busy week! 😅 #uktechweek25 kicked off with Mayoral Hustings, with three of the four West of England Mayoral Combined Authority candidates presenting their cases for election, with questioning from Startup Coalition’s Vinous Ali putting Oli Henman (Lib Dem), Helen Godwin (Labour) and Mary Page (Green) through their paces. A difficult one for them as I sense they are focussed more on “polling” items like education, housing and transport. Whoever wins what I sense will be a close, low turnout election (as people aren’t engaged with the Metro Mayor), we need to understand how, as a tech community, we can feed into their packed objectives and challenges, aligning their policies to the tech community’s needs. A mention for conservative candidate Steve Smith who was unable to attend due to prior commitments - but sent a video message. In the afternoon it was the official launch of UK Tech Week 2025 - with Stuart Clarke MBE kicking off proceedings. Some interesting discussions were had and a panel hosted by Rosie Bennett, featuring Dan Pritchard of Tech South West, Michaela Eschbach of Cambridge Wireless Ltd, Phil Benson of UKBlackTech and Deb Hetherington of Leeds Digital. Suffice to say - a lot to be learned from closer connections and collaboration across the UK’s tech community! Today it’s Houses of Parliament for the Great South West’s Investment event! 😅

Only a handful of tickets left for the South West Investment Summit! This Wednesday 19 March at Armada House Bristol What you can expect from the day: Keynote Speakers: Hear from top industry experts and thought leaders who’ve been there, done that. Panels: Ask that burning question around funding, raising and investment Networking: Rub elbows with fellow investors, entrepreneurs, and potential partners. Exclusive Insights: Walk away with strategies you can apply right away to grow your portfolio. Grab the last few tickets here: https://lnkd.in/d_8HTaJg? Nikhita Govekar Professor Matt Freeman Harry Alexander Catherine Fletcher Deborah Watson Rupert Clerey Charlotte Ebbutt Scott Preece Edward Tellwright Ben Cooper Dan Pritchard Richard Beedell Laura Bond Nathan Hulcoop Adam Kene #SWInvestmentSummit #TechEvents #TechFinance

Join us for a very special - and very new - way of launching this year’s Tech South West Awards ⬇️🏆

So ... what exactly is "DeepTech"? 🤔 It's UK Tech Week 2025 next week - and after kicking off the week on Monday with events Bristol at Engine Shed, Tech South West is hosting it's latest SW Investment Summit at Armada House, Bristol on on Wednesday 19th March. The focus is DeepTech ... but what actually is DeepTech?! Dr Ben Miles, Ph.D. of Empirical Ventures explains ... (get your tickets here: https://lnkd.in/eX-MHMCs) Johnathan Matlock RWK Goodman Howden, the new name for Aston Lark Innovate UK Business West Angel Investors Bristol British Business Bank Access to Finance SW

🔈 We're on the one week countdown to the next South West Investment Summit! Where: Armada House Bristol When: Wednesday 19 March 12-5pm The afternoon will be jam-packed with keynote speakers, expert panelists, pitching, insights and networking. Gain insight into the funding landscape for #deeptech including #AI, #cyber, #quantum, #MedTech, #BioTech and #robotics. Grab your ticket: https://lnkd.in/d_8HTaJg #TechSouthWest #FundingAndFinance #Investment #TechGrowth Nikhita Govekar Professor Matt Freeman Harry Alexander Catherine Fletcher Deborah Watson Rupert Clerey Charlotte Ebbutt Scott Preece Edward Tellwright Ben Cooper Dan Pritchard Richard Beedell Laura Bond Joe Bevan Nathan Hulcoop

9 days to go until the Tech South West Spring Investment Summit Where: Armada House Bristol When: Wednesday 19 March 12-5pm Whether you’re an investor or a tech business seeking finance, this is where you'll gain valuable insights, meet like-minded people, and learn from the best in the business. Grab your ticket: https://lnkd.in/d_8HTaJg Nikhita Govekar Professor Matt Freeman Melanie Goward Harry Alexander Catherine Fletcher Deborah Watson Rupert Clerey Charlotte Ebbutt Scott Preece Edward Tellwright Ben Cooper Dan Pritchard Richard Beedell Laura Bond

Celebrating Women in Tech this International Women’s Day! 💜💡 At Tech South West we are celebrating the incredible women making waves in tech. 👊 A third of the founders on our Growth Forge Programme 2024 are female. These trailblazing founders are driving innovation, building game-changing businesses, and shaping the future of tech in the South West and beyond. Their leadership, vision, and determination inspire us every day. 🙋🏻♀️And it doesn’t stop there—almost 50% of the Tech South West team are women, bringing expertise, creativity, and passion to everything we do. From driving initiatives that support the region’s tech ecosystem to leading key programmes, their impact is felt across every part of our work. 🏆 Through our Tech South West Awards, we’ve proudly celebrated the achievements of women across the sector, spotlighting female founders, leaders, and rising stars who are shaping the future of technology. Whether it’s through our Investment Summits, the partners we collaborate with, or the key figures driving progress in the tech ecosystem, we’re dedicated to amplifying the voices and successes of women in tech. But we know there’s still more to do. That’s why we’re committed to championing women in tech, supporting female founders, and ensuring the South West continues to lead the way in innovation, inclusion, and opportunity. This #IWD2024, let’s celebrate the achievements of women in tech and push for even greater progress. Who inspires you in the industry? Tag them below! 👇 #WomenInTech #TechSouthWest #DiversityInTech #FemaleFounders Hannah Matthews Georgie Cox Gabriela Isas Niki Davies Holly Patton Tanuvi E. Wendy Harris Kate Nicholls Julia Lucy Savin (Cert CII) Sarah Fasey Deborah Watson Emma Mallett Tyne Hill Cert CII Claire Coulston Charlotte Collyer Lizzie Tottle Pippa Clarke Rav Bumbra Connie Wilson Rhona Munro MSc Thanh Quan-Nicholls Hannah Rowe Alicia Grimes Ruth Farenga Nikhita Govekar Lauren Crawley-Moore Catherine Fletcher Elly Rowley Briony Phillips Frances Lucraft Asel Sartbaeva Dr Chen Mao Davies Amy Newton Chloe Vernon-Shore Emily Hill Dominie Dunbrook Amber Probyn Hazel McShane Josephine Dorh

Yesterday it was AIB’s latest members pitch event at Origin Workspace. We were treated to a pitch from Caroline A. and Simon Oddy from Medivys, and a wine tasting experience from Canned Wine Group. A great way to spend an afternoon/evening! Medivys is a great example of how AI can be used to simplify and accelerate meaningful, but mundane tasks for NHS GPs. GPs, on average, deal with 40 items of patient correspondence each day. It’s takes about 5 mins to deal with each piece. That’s 3.5 HOURS PER DAY! In reality, it’s 3.5 hours of their own time in evenings and weekends, just adding to the stress to an already difficult job, and to their home life. Medivys’s +ministr8 (that’s administrate to save you time …) system is trained on a GP surgery’s own data to provide the likely outcomes for each piece of correspondence. GPs want to (and are likely to be compelled to) maintain continuity of care - and so reading the correspondence is key, but then dealing with the actions from the letters can be time consuming. Medivys speeds it up by using AI to read the letter and give the GP the most likely “next steps” based on previous actions for similar correspondence. Brilliantly simple, but highly impactful. Canned Wine had pitched online to out members a few weeks ago, and took the opportunity to come in, treat us to a wine tasting from wine expert and co-founder Ben Franks, while Ben and CEO Simon Rollings took questions from the members about the business and the fund raise they have under way. We’re hoping to support both businesses and add them to our growing pipeline! Jon Bonnick Peter Lockett Ben Cooper Tech South West David Kelly