As well as hosting the showcase of start-ups and scale-ups at its Universities Centre, Innovation Birmingham has organised the event in conjunction with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, providing an opportunity for the companies to learn about the LEP’s Access to Finance group.

The eleven young businesses that have been invited to pitch have either been drawn from the Campus-based Serendip Smart City Incubator tailored for digital businesses looking to grow and access key markets, selected from the Entrepreneurs for the Future programme supporting early stage digital start-ups, or are more established scale-ups based on the Campus.

Dr David Hardman MBE, CEO of the Innovation Birmingham Campus said: “This is the second event in our Showcase series and continues to highlight the potential of our talented innovators spanning across sectors from music and health to education, property and gaming. This variety emphasises the calibre of start-ups and scale-ups located at the Innovation Birmingham Campus and this event will hopefully help each business secure investment to assist them with entering and growing within their respective markets.”

Half of the companies pitching are hoping to attract seed investment to support early-stage product development and launch phases, with the other half seeking additional funding, having already completed at least one investment round.

David added: “The companies that are pitching are just a snapshot of those on the Campus currently seeking investment, we have a waiting list of businesses who wanted to be part of this event. By attracting investors – venture capitalists, corporates and angels from across the UK – highlights the interest in the talent and brilliance being nurtured here, as well as the demand for digital entrepreneurship and innovation.”

Each company will have a 10-minute slot to present, which will be followed by questions from a panel of investment experts. Pat Hanlon, Chair of the GBSLEP’s Access to Finance group said: “This collaborative event is an ideal opportunity to facilitate business growth, development and market penetration for burgeoning digital technology companies. Stimulating relationships between entrepreneurs and established investors is a great way to drive innovation in the GBSLEP region, providing the basis for ideas to develop into successful products and flourish in contemporary markets.”