The Silicon Gorge pitching competition will return this autumn so start preparing your applications!
The competition will bring together 10 of the most exciting early-stage tech and digital startups looking for investment between £100,000 and £5 million. They will pitch to a room full of high-profile investors from across the region and beyond at the Silicon Gorge Investor Showcase as part of leading tech conference Bristech on 6th December 2018. Applications will open on 8th October until 5th November, with a competitive pitching process happening to get to the final 10!
“Silicon Gorge offers startups an amazing opportunity to showcase their businesses to high profile investors”
With last year’s Silicon Investor Showcase top 10 including Immersive Labs who were awarded the SPARKies “Totally Killing it” award, LettusGrow who recently beat 800 other startups in a global, green, innovation challenge and We Build Bots who subsequently closed an investment round for £700,000 pounds- it’s clear that startups that make it through Silicon Gorge go from success to success.
Abigail Frear, the showcase’s organiser (pictured left), tells us: “Silicon Gorge has showcased some fantastic tech companies across the years, many of whom have since gone on to secure significant investments which is fantastic.
It’s been a whole year since we held the last one and we’re really looking forward to meeting some of the great new companies coming up through the ecosystem!”
Nic Hemley “We’re excited to be hosting Silicon Gorge this year as part of the Bristech conference, Bristech is all about facilitating knowledge sharing and opportunities for tech in the region, so it seems like the perfect fit”
Future smart tech
This year the competition, in partnership with Engine Shed and SETsquared is open to any growing companies, the judges will particularly be looking for companies who have ambitions to scale with a strong tech basis.
Startups that make it through the first round of the competition will be invited to attend one of two pitching competitions in Bristol and Bath in November, in which local entrepreneurs and experts will select the 10 startups to go forward to the final.
The final 10 startups will also be given the opportunity to perfect their pitches before the big day at a free pitching workshop from the experts at SETsquared.
Apply below.
Apply here or on the Typeform below.
Silicon Gorge is a partnership of local South West organisations which aims to help startups and scaleups find paths to investment. Current partners of Silicon Gorge include TechSPARK, SETsquared, Engine Shed, University of Bath Innovation Centre and Rocketmakers.
You can also stay tuned with Silicon Gorge goings on by following them on Twitter here: @SiliconGorge.

Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
She also oversees TechSPARK's social media, sharing the latest updates on everything from investment news to green tech meetups and inspirational stories.