17/11/2009
"We are delighted to have attracted such a powerful group of Silicon Valley pioneers who are at the heart of today's most exciting businesses. Bringing our two economies together in this way will leave a legacy far beyond this week's events."
The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) this week welcomes to the UK some of the biggest names from Silicon Valley as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Biz Stone, founder and CEO of Twitter, Reid Hoffman, founder and CEO of LinkedIn and Salar Kalamangar, Vice President of Google Web Applications are just some of the pioneers participating in the second 'Silicon Valley comes to the UK' event organised by NESTA and Cambridge University's Judge Business School.
The visit is designed to create opportunities for UK entrepreneurs to exchange ideas, collaborate on business opportunities and learn about how to commercialise great ideas so that they can grow into successful businesses. The pioneers will also mentor Cambridge University students on enterprise and business skills, including how to access global markets, adopt early-stage technologies and build consumer demand for new products.
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Chief Executive of NESTA, says: 'We are delighted to have attracted such a powerful group of Silicon Valley pioneers who are at the heart of today's most exciting businesses. Bringing our two economies together in this way will leave a legacy far beyond this week's events.'
NESTA has the largest portfolio of pre-revenue high tech businesses in the UK, including in Green and Consumer IT sectors. It has long argued that in order to encourage the growth of high-growth companies in the UK, three things need to be in place: access to finance, knowledge transfer from universities to business and supportive government procurement methods. Silicon Valley embodies these characteristics which have been a key driver in the development of global businesses.
Jonathan Kestenbaum continues: 'The UK is brimming with entrepreneurial flair but we can learn valuable lessons about how to maximise this potential on Silicon Valley's scale.'
The Silicon Valley Comes to the UK visit runs from Wednesday 18th to Saturday 21st November. A series of events will be held in London and in Cambridge. Visitors include: Biz Stone, founder and CEO of Twitter; Bob Cart, founder and CEO of GreenVolts; Jigar Shah, founder of the Carbon War Room; Premal Shah, founder of Kiva; Reid Hoffman, Executive Chairman and co-founder of Linkedin; Salar Kalamangar, Vice President of Google Web Applications and Toby Prehn, founder of G2 Energy.
For further information, please contact:
Jan Singleton 020 7438 2606 jan.singleton@nesta.org.uk or Chani Hirsch 020 7438 2601 chani.hirsch@nesta.org.uk.
About NESTA
NESTA is the largest independent endowment in the UK. Its mission is to support innovation to drive economic recovery and solve some of the UK's major social challenges.
NESTA is a world leader in its field and is in a unique position to support and promote innovation through a blend of practical programmes, policy and research and investment in early-stage companies.
Silicon Valley comes to the UK
Silicon Valley comes to the UK is being co-hosted by NESTA and Cambridge University's Judge Business School. It is supported by a number of organisations including: UKTI Global Entrepreneurship Programme, the Technology Strategy Board, British Telecom, BDO Stoy Hayward, MOFO, Huddle, Google, Linkedin, the BLN and Plug and Play.
Programme
Wednesday 18 November
The Future of Entrepreneurship, London (NESTA)
An interactive workshop for approx 60 young people to help them develop a better understanding of the skills, knowledge and characteristics required to succeed in the future.
CEO Clinic, London (NESTA)
CEO Clinic - In association with Google - this half-day workshop for is for CEO's of European start-ups focused on bootstrapped and angel backed companies.
Premal Shah - The Future of Social Investment, London (NESTA)
Premal Shah, founder and president of Kiva, the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website will discuss how he came to establish Kiva and his views on the future of social investment. This event will be available to view on www.nesta.org.uk from Thursday 18th November.
Dinner for Serial Entrepreneurs, London
An informal dinner discussion designed to bring together leading entrepreneurs from the Green & Consumer Internet sectors from Silicon Valley and Europe
Thursday 19 November
Social Networking: A source of good? London (NESTA)
A conversation with Stephen Fry, Actor, journalist, celebrity 'Tweeter' and self-confessed technophile, Biz Stone, founder and Chief Executive of Twitter and Reid Hoffman, founder and Chief Executive of LinkedIn. They will be discussing the phenomenon of social media and its future impact. This event will be webcast live on www.nesta.org.uk, and www.stephenfry.com starting at 12noon and finishing at 1pm.
Debate, Cambridge Union, Cambridge University
The title for the debate is "This House believes that bailing out the banks was a waste of money".
Friday 20 November & Saturday 21 November
Master Classes for Students at Cambridge University, and CEO's of start-ups at Silicon Fen will take place on Friday and Saturday, covering issues such as The key things that venture capitalist (and investors) are looking for in a start-up today, and why?; the Future of Social Mobile Internet: What's next?; Going after or partnering with the incumbents; good strategy or fool's errand? and Who are the people behind the fast-growth companies?
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Nesta Operating Company, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland number SC042833.
