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Success for region’s first StartUp Studio live pitch event

Joe Bevan
Authored by Joe Bevan
Posted: Monday, June 28, 2021 - 13:07

The South West's first ever StartUp Studio pitch event took place last week, with startups from across the region pitching to a panel of investors, business strategy experts and key partners.

Hosted by Tech South West, the event featured eight startups that have each taken part in the StartUp Studio accelerator programme - a new virtual accelerator for early stage tech companies in the South West. The first programme was delivered by Skowt Consulting and Activate, with support from Astley Media, RSM, Granted Consultancy and Azure.

The founders were put through their paces with tough questions from the panel and live feedback from audience members. 

Rewatch the pitches here.

A range of tech specialisms were on display at the event, with startups from locations such as Bath, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset taking part.

  • Portilius - an import/export trade platform for SMEs
  • Bandless - a smartwatch-enabled blood pressure monitor
  • Regulation Technologies - a deep dive data analysis tool
  • Anibotics - an educational, robotic toy series that uses AI
  • Dapta - a platform to make the lives of engineers easier and more productive 
  • Arracca -  a personal environmental impact assessment tool
  • Storzy - a self-storage disruptor
  • Paranimo - a platform that matches clients with therapists

Providing live feedback to the companies were a panel of tech and investment experts from across the South West: Paul Jones of British Business Bank, Bristol-based accountancy and business strategy expert John Barrow of Azure, strategic growth coach and investor Stuart Nicol, Emma McLeod of tech marketing agency Astley Media, Tom Kennard of non-dilutive funding specialists Granted Consultancy, Simon Tutton of Deepbridge Capital, Jake Ronay of Newable Ventures and Andy Grey, associate director of accountancy firm RSM.

Ben Cooper, director of Skowt Consulting and delivery partner for the StartUp Studio programme, said: "The tech sector in the South West just keeps getting better!

"This week's PitchUp! event was a brilliant showcase of some of the best talent and innovation taking place in the region. Well done to the startups and a huge thanks to our panelists for their insightful feedback and questioning - it's been great to see many of you carrying on the conversation with the founders after the event."

Paul Jones, UK Network Senior Manager at the British Business Bank, said on LinkedIn: “Pitches were first class and really purpose driven with clear scaleable propositions. Super organisation throughout.”

Applications are now open for the second cohort of StartUp Studio. The accelerator runs for six weeks, and includes full-day workshops, fireside chats with guest mentors, insight sessions with key partners, 1:1 mentoring and more. Early stage startups from anywhere in the South West are encouraged to apply.

For more information go to techsouthwest.co.uk/startupstudio or contact hello@techsouthwest.co.uk

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