Venturefest Bristol and Bath

Author Arpingstone
Reproduced with kind permission of the copyright owner
Souce Wikipedia

Jane Lambert

Venturefest Bristol and Bath is taking place at Watershed Bristol. Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX today and if you are in or can reach that neighbourhood today it is well worth a visit. You will find directions and travel information on the venue page of the event website.

Venturefest is the trade mark for a range of services in classes 35, 36 and 41. They include

"Arranging exhibitions for business purposes; conducting exhibitions for business purposes; arranging of trade fairs; promotion of fairs for trade purposes; business services relating to the provision of sponsorship for exhibitions and seminars; business consultancy services relating to the promotion of fund raising."

Events held under the Venturefest mark bring together local innovators and creatives, entrepreneurs and investors from a designated hinterland to a single venue for a day of talks and networking. There is an exhibition of local universities and professional, financial and business service providers and a competition where the region's brightest and best startups and growing companies pitch for investment. The first Venturefest was held at Oxford in 1999.  It was followed a few years later by Venturefest Yorkshire at York racecourse. Now there are Venturefests in almost every part of the UK.

The programme for today's Venturefest is here. The theme of this year's conference is "Smart Cities" and there will be a marketplace of "15 regional and national companies pushing the boundaries of Smart City innovation."The pitching contest which in other venues is called "Innovation Showcase" is known as "Silicon Gorge" in Bristol.

If you run or are thinking of starting a new business whether in Bristol, Bath or indeed anywhere you should give some thought as to how you will protect your goodwill, prevent other people from adopting your technology or offering similar designs right from the start. That is why I stress the importance of Putting IP at the Heart of Your Business Plan 2 Jan 2015 NIPC News and explain to every founder, accountant or investor Why every business plan should take account of intellectual property 3 April 2016 NIPC News. Whenever I have watched a pitching competition, one of the first questions that angels, bankers or venture capitalists ask is "What sort of intellectual property protection have you taken out?"

But I have also noticed that many business angels and private equity investors have only the sketchiest knowledge or understanding of IP and for them I have written An IP Primer for Business Angels and Private Equity Investors 29 Aug 2016 NIPC News.

Whether you are a founder, investor or professional advisor you need to focus on IP and as I have devoted my whole career to advising and assisting startups and other small businesses on how to protect and make money from their investment in branding, design, technology and creativity I am in a very good position to help you too.

Should you wish to discuss this article or protecting or leveraging your IP generally, call me on 020 7404 5252 during normal business hours or send me a message through my contact form.