Member Article

LightStart launches free event to showcase region’s latest startups

LightStart, the analysis-led digital design house and hosts of fun, innovative events across the region, has launched a new event to bring together startups, scales ups and business support services. Having been a Community Partner on NatWest’s “Entrepreneurial Spark” programme for the last year, LightStart now boasts both a growing in-house team and an increasing portfolio of diverse clients, ranging from tech startups to £60m turnover social enterprises. LightStart knows that for young and growing businesses, one of the hardest challenges is getting your name, brand and products out to the wider world and the team noticed that there wasn’t a platform to facilitate this across the Leeds city region. For this reason, LightStart decided to set up an event in their new abode, WorkspaceHub on North Street, to not only provide a free platform for startups to share their products or solutions, but also to simultaneously give them the opportunity to connect and form partnerships with supporting businesses and people from within the Leeds Business Community. Sponsorship for the event has come in from GunnerCooke, BIPC, Leeds’ Entrepreneurial Spark and AD:VENTURE, with the headline sponsor being the UK Digital Network.

The event, “NewBiz Freshers’ Fair” will take place on the morning of Thursday 29th June from 9am until 12pm. There will be a series of ‘stands’ in the room, manned by Freshers who will be ready to showcase their product or service. As well as our new businesses, we also have space for some selected supporting businesses - these include services such as accountants, solicitors, marketing/PR, social media services, IT support, content services, IP/Patent, business coaches/mentors and exporting support. Based across two floors at the new coworking space WorkspaceHub, there will be plenty of breakout space for those who want to network further or need somewhere more private to chat.

Directors Simon Edwards and Dan Akers acknowledge the importance of meeting other new businesses and, crucially, those that can support you during the first stages of building your business:

“From experience we know that a strong network in both the region and sector you work within can make all the difference to your business. Dan and I realised that opportunities for very young businesses to exhibit for free were few and far between, unless you were part of one of the local hubs or accelerator programmes, but even then they were mostly pitching competitions and, in reality, you don’t meet your future investor in an elevator” said Simon.

“We work in an incredibly vibrant, growing and fast-changing region” added Dan, “filled with some amazing startups but the only time you really hear them talking about what they do is when they’re pitching. We want them to be able to stand up and celebrate what they’re doing in a much nicer, calmer environment, celebrating all the hard work people are putting in to make their business succeed”.

The event is open to anyone who has just started a new business, is thinking about starting a new business or who is interested to see what’s happening in Yorkshire’s great start-up scene. Free tickets are available online at newbizfreshersfair.eventbrite.co.uk along with all the information you need to apply for a Freshers Stand or to be included as a Supporting Business.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophie Bartlett .