Venturefest Bristol & Bath 2015 has today announced that headline speakers at the new-look event will include Col Needham, founder and CEO IMDb (the #1 movie website in the world) and Scott Wilcox, the Director of SXSW Eco (the go-to event for sustainability professionals).
Col and Scott will be part of a Thought Leadership Conference at Venturefest which will highlight the latest developments on key issues affecting innovators and investors.
Col Needham
Col Needham (pictured right) founded IMDb 25 years ago in Bristol before it was acquired by Amazon in 1998. He continues to serve as the founder and CEO of IMDb and is now key figure in the global film industry.
“Bristol & Bath has an outstanding and innovative start-up culture which is one of the reasons the IMDb UK office is located in Bristol”
Col said: “Bristol & Bath has an outstanding and innovative start-up culture which is one of the reasons the IMDb UK office is located in Bristol. I’m looking forward to learning more about other exciting companies in the region and sharing my own experiences over the last 25 years.”
Scott Wilcox
Scott Wilcox (pictured left), who has firmly established South by South West Eco as the international conference on the future of sustainability, will be presenting his insights into the latest US and international green technology developments and outlining the opportunities for entrepreneurs in the region.
“Bristol & Bath has a big part to play in green technology internationally, especially this year with Bristol being the European Green Capital”
Scott explained: “Bristol & Bath is one of the UK’s most important technology clusters. It has a big part to play in green technology internationally, especially this year with Bristol being the European Green Capital.”
What is Venturefest?
The aim of Venturefest is to celebrate the region’s position as an unrivalled global centre for innovation and investment opportunities and also act as channel for dynamic new ideas and thought leadership. The presence of Col Needham and Scott Wilcox signals Venturefest Bristol & Bath’s transformation into a national and international event, in line with the region’s status as a fast growing globally significant technology cluster.
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The refreshed event enables entrepreneurs and innovators at all stages of the business lifecycle to connect with investors and commercial partners and is set to feature 60 exciting exhibitors. The event will also have a particular focus on the role of innovation in sustainability and green technology as Bristol celebrates its year as European Green Capital.
First Group, Skanska and KPMG sign up
Venturefest will showcase the region’s most successful sectors: advanced engineering; high tech, ICT and microelectronics; digital and creative; and city innovation.
First Group and Skanska are the latest big names to get behind this year’s event and will be sponsoring the City Innovation Zone, joining Airbus which has already signed up to support the advanced engineering sector. KPMG will be supporting an Investor Showcase at the event, which will also be supported by SETsquared, TechSPARK (yes, us!), and Invest Bristol & Bath amongst others.
For more information, and to keep up to date with the latest news, follow @venturefestbb or visit www.venturefestbristolandbath.com. You can still apply to show off your product (applications close at 6pm tomorrow!) at Venturefest or put it under the noses of potential investors (applications close next Tuesday).
