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6TH Cambridge Enterprise Conference announces Enterprise Launch Pad business plan competition

15/12/2003

"The networking and our success in the Enterprise Launch Pad also contributed to our search for investors."

The first prize is £5,000 to invest in the winning business. Ten Enterprise Launch Pad finalists will be given elevator pitch slots during the Conference on 25 March 2004, to pitch their business and try to win the delegate vote. Additionally, up to 100 qualifying entrants will be invited to attend Deal Day on 26 March 2004, where they can present their business and take advantage of the networking opportunities that are a hallmark of the Cambridge Enterprise Conferences.

Last year's winner, Warwick Effect Polymers, went on to secure £360,000 in funding and moved into new premises. 'The Conference worked in several different ways for us,' explains another finalist from last year, John Kearon, founder of BrainJuicer. 'Not only did I meet the people who have since become our Finance Director and Operations Director at the event, but the networking and our success in the Enterprise Launch Pad also contributed to our search for investors.' BrainJuicer, a web-based market research company, has grown by 600% since the last conference, and now has customers in over 30 countries.

The judging panel is led by Christopher Spray, Senior Investment Principal with conference sponsor Atlas Venture, and features senior representatives of other conference sponsors, including Ernst & Young, the Cambridge-MIT Institute, NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault LLP, and University of Cambridge Enterprise. Go to the Conference website, www.cambridgeenterprise.co.uk, for more information and entry details. Entries close on 10 January 2004.

About the Conference: The Cambridge Enterprise Conference is a non-profit event that provides a community for practitioners and experts from around the world to discuss and debate how to enhance and encourage enterprise. The 2004 conference is the sixth, and will be held from March 24-26 at Churchill College, Cambridge, UK. Conference sessions focus discussions on the issues that face technology entrepreneurs, and this year the Conference will be introducing masterclasses to take an in-depth look at some key areas. The ten finalists in the Enterprise Launch Pad competition will pitch to delegates during conference sessions on March 25th. Deal Day, running throughout the second day of the main Conference on March 26th, will feature up to 100 top entries in the Enterprise Launch Pad competition.

More information on the 6^TH Cambridge Enterprise Conference, including the full programme and speakers, can be found at www.cambridgeenterprise.co.uk.