The Duke of York will welcome 41 start-ups to St James's Palace on Wednesday 5th November for the second Pitch@Palace event. The theme for the evening is Science and Technology. HRH has partnered with 14 Accelerator Organisations who have each nominated 3 Entrepreneurs to join the programme. All 41 Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to network with an audience of CEOs, mentors, angel investors and other influential members of the UK business community.
Bootcamp was held on 20th October at Central Working Space, Mile End Road, in partnership with Microsoft Ventures and Wayra. 15 start-ups were selected by a judging panel to pitch their business ideas at this evening’s Pitch@Palace.
One of those selected Terra Recovery is part of the ESA Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC) based at the Harwell Oxford campus, and combines remote sensing data and public records with cutting edge sensor technologies to develop an instrument that identifies and understands the basic characteristics of landfill sites across the UK and North America. Each Entrepreneur will have three minutes to pitch their ideas.
The other 26 Entrepreneurs who took part in Bootcamp will also attend, and will be able to network with the audience before and after the Pitching. Amongst those attending will be Mohammed Belal whose project Ayar was developed at STFC’s RAL Space with technology that was originally intended for use in space missions. The instrument which is developed to diagnose severe infections in hospitals, will measure human breath content to identify the onset of severe infection in critically ill patients, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes, saving lives and reducing costs in healthcare organisations.
Also representing the ESA BIC will be Mapskey, who will be putting the excitement back into receiving an online gift. Using GPS and smart phone technology gift recipients will be guided to their gift location – a modern day treasure hunt.
His Royal Highness will welcome guests and David Rowan, Editor WIRED magazine, will moderate the event. Pitch@Palace will be live-streamed at www.pitchatpalace.com – with both the invited audience and online viewers able to vote for their favourite business. All 41 start-are also competing for P@P People's Choice Award via a public vote through the website.
The Duke of York held the first Pitch@Palace event in April, 2014 and is a key part of his work to support entrepreneurs, who HRH believes are essential to Britain's continuing prosperity. As technological advances allow traditional businesses to become more efficient, The Duke believes Entrepreneurship will offer alternative opportunities and become a key driver of economic growth and job creation.
Speaking about Pitch@Palace to Bootcamp participants on 20th October, The Duke said: "it's not just about investment. It's about knowledge and the transfer of ideas; it's about networking, mentoring and advice." His Royal Highness added "there are a lot of people in that room who can solve a great many of your issues and problems, and actually help accelerate your businesses. I want to make sure that every single person who's in the audience agrees to at least one conversation with one of your businesses."
Notes for Editors:
ESA Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC (link opens in a new window))
Set up by ESA in 2011 as part of its thriving Europe-wide BIC network and managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC (link opens in a new window)), the ESA BIC Harwell draws on both organisation’s outstanding track record in high-tech business incubations – providing a unique environment geared exclusively to accelerating innovation and unlocking your commercial potential.
Based at Harwell Oxford, the ESA BIC is a place alive with drive, ambition and imagination – the perfect location to get your business off the ground.
