Newcastle Startup Week (15-19 May 2017) – first venue and sponsors announced

From the world’s first lightbulb to cloud computing and smart data, the ‘test bed city’ of Newcastle has been inventing the future for hundreds of years.

Building on this rich history of innovation and invention, ‘Newcastle Startup Week’ is an exciting new festival of entrepreneurship taking place over 5 days between 15-19 May 2017 with the aim of inspiring more local people to start a business and attract greater inward investment to the city and wider North East region.

Organised by Dynamo North East’s ‘Collaborator of the Year’ award winner Paul Lancaster (Plan Digital UK) with support from the North East LEP, Federation of Small Businesses, Sage, Blu Sky Tax, GP Bullhound and more, the week-long event will begin with a celebration of local business success stories of the past, present and future at Robert Stephenson & Co’s recently-refurbished BOILER SHOP behind Central Station, followed by a series of events at multiple venues across the city to help people go from business idea to launch in just 5 days.

Chi Onwurah (Labour MP for Newcastle Central & Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy) said: “Newcastle has a long and proud history of innovation and invention which has kickstarted new industries that have benefited people all around the world. Newcastle Startup Week is therefore an opportunity to celebrate our success stories of the past, present and future and showcase the wide range of help and support available which will inspire more women and men to start and grow their business in the city, create jobs and attract inward investment to the region.”

Colin Bell (Director of Business Growth, North East LEP) said: “We’re delighted to be sponsoring this exciting new event which will inspire people to scale their business and show that the North East of England is a fantastic place to grow and prosper.”

Simon Hanson (North East Development Manager, Federation of Small Businesses) said: “The North East is the best place in the world to start up and grow a business. There has been a real entrepreneurial renaissance across the region with an extra 15,000 businesses being started in the past year. Newcastle Startup Week will showcase the superb startups we have in the city, demonstrate the huge ambitions we have in becoming a testbed city and be a beacon for investment. FSB is delighted to be backing this event and helping the city meet its ambitions.”

Jon Dudgeon (Director & Co-Founder, Blu Sky Tax) said: “As soon as Paul mentioned he was planning a whole week of startup events in Newcastle, team Blu Sky got really excited and there was no hesitation about getting involved! This week is a great opportunity for the region to showcase how strong our entrepreneurial spirit is and to learn from those founders who have already launched and succeeded in building exciting, growing businesses. Bring on May 2017, it’s going to great fun!”

Ed Prior (Analyst, GP Bullhound) said: “We are delighted to be supporting Newcastle Startup Week as the region has a strong history of innovation and producing high quality, sustainable businesses which are vital in supporting the local economy and wider tech ecosystem. We hope that the week long programme of events focussing on different aspects of the business lifecycle can assist early stage business owners in growing their businesses as well as providing inspiration to the next generation of entrepreneurs. It’s for this reason that we are also looking forward to hosting the Northern Tech Awards in Newcastle in March 2017 which celebrates and brings together the Top 50, high growth tech businesses in the North of England.”

Daytime Sponsors

Find out more

See our full list of speakers and events at http://newcastlestartupweek.com/schedule/ or click on the link below to book your ticket now:

Eventbrite - Newcastle Startup Week (15-19 May 2017)


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