Activation Partners

For World Oceans Day, we're diving into the technology that's changing how we understand, protect, and work beneath the waves. We'll touch on marine robotics and restoration, with talks from people bringing these innovations to life.

Join leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers as we come together to explore frontier science and technology, and plan for flourishing futures.

If you're a scientist interested in shaping what is possible, a founder exploring new ways of creating technological progress, or simply interested in how hope and optimism is crucial in shaping a future that works for everyone, join us for an evening of talks, networking and serendipitous connection.

The Female Founders Takeover is a bold and inspiring evening bringing together female founders, entrepreneurs, and allies to connect, collaborate, and share their voices.

Designed to unite and amplify the largest collective of female founder communities in the North, the event creates a powerful space where women in business come together under one roof to connect, support, and grow. 

Converge's Kickstart programme helps students, researchers and recent graduates from across Scotland's universities dip their toes into entrepreneurship. It's where people learn the basics, test whether their idea has legs, and decide if this path is for them. 

On June 11, we're bringing this year's cohort together with the wider Venture Café Edinburgh community, because building a good network takes time, and the earlier you start, the better.

In collaboration with Venture Café London and ARIA, the Tony Blair Institute is hosting an event to mark the launch of its new Innovation Programme, focused on a central challenge: technological disruption is inevitable, but prosperity is not. As advances in AI, robotics, quantum, and advanced manufacturing accelerate, the question is no longer whether change will happen, but who will capture its value.

This event brings together investors, founders, corporates, policymakers, and researchers from across the UK’s innovation ecosystem. It will serve as a platform for cross-sector dialogue and a moment to activate the ecosystem, bringing together those shaping policy, capital, and technology to drive the UK’s next phase of growth.

More information coming soon...

Neurotech is developing rapidly, with devices offering more precision and greater potential for scaling. Cambridge NeuroWorks' flagship forum will provide a focused examination of the field’s direction by showcasing cutting-edge technological advances, as well as highlighting the importance of aligning clinical needs early in the development of technologies. 

Join us on Sustainable Gastronomy Day to celebrate the future of food! We know that our food system needs to change. The question isn't whether we innovate, but what that innovation looks like, from lab to field to kitchen.

Join us to explore the accelerating path from quantum research to real-world deployment, bringing together investors, founders, and enterprise leaders shaping the future of commercial quantum technology.

Some 25 years ago Richard Rogers proposed an urban renaissance for cities across the UK. It was a moment of optimism for an urbanised world that, some ten years ago, the United Nations identified had become the most common mode of living for peoples around the globe. The intervening years have brought many criticisms, with cities being seen as places of inequality, social injustice, unsustainability and sites of global health problems. They can, of course, also be places of economic opportunity, cultural creativity, intelligent design and cutting edge architecture and planning. In this context, the conference explores diverse readings of the places we inhabit: their design, planning, management, social policies and cultural trends.

AI is changing biotech forever. Frontier Biotech 2.0: Five Tables will map AI in drug discovery and development across five stages; targets, molecules, labs, trials, patients. Each table is chaired by a practitioner who has deep knowledge and expertise in this area.

The economic and cultural ties between Ireland and Greater Manchester are deeper than ever, and this Thursday Gathering takeover from Sister is dedicated to unlocking the next wave of cross-border growth. 

We’re bringing together innovators from both sides of the Irish Sea to discuss how regional partnerships, shared talent, and international collaboration can unlock growth for businesses in the UK and Ireland.