Activation Partners

Join for an intimate interview with a successful entrepreneur, infused with Venture Café’s signature magic: real connections, unexpected conversations and a buzzing atmosphere where innovators connect.

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. 

​Join Nucleate UK to explore career pathways in bioengineering, with a particular focus on translating research into startups and real-world impact, and how academic careers and entrepreneurship can complement one another. This event is aimed at PhD students and Early Career Researchers (ECRs).

Please note this event will be held in Manchester. 

Join for a rare look inside the UK's AI research ecosystem, hearing directly from the researchers and founders working on technologies that are only just beginning to leave the lab.

This Thursday Gathering explores how advances in motorsport are influencing sectors from aerospace and healthcare to sport, mobility and sustainable manufacturing.

Join for a special summer edition of the Thursday Gathering as we celebrate the final Digital Thursday and explore the technologies, ideas and people shaping the Intelligence Age. This evening brings together researchers, founders, innovators and industry leaders to examine how AI is moving from the lab into the real world.

alidation can make or break a healthtech venture. Investors, healthcare providers, and regulators all want evidence, but where do founders begin when resources are limited?

Join healthtech innovators and industry experts to discuss practical pathways for generating early evidence, validating clinical need, and strengthening your value proposition. 

At its heart, Venture Café is about connecting innovators and helping ideas move forward.

This Thursday Gathering puts that mission centre stage, with an evening of interactive workshops, peer learning and meaningful conversations. Rather than focusing on a single theme, we're creating space for the community to come together, share expertise, develop new skills and build connections across sectors and disciplines.

This event will explore how innovative dual-use technologies move from concept to contract across defence, security, infrastructure, energy, and advanced manufacturing. Focusing on how SMEs, start-ups, and non-traditional suppliers can overcome procurement barriers, secure end-user support, and achieve adoption at scale.

What does the future of food production look like in the North? From lab-based breakthroughs to field level technologies, Greater Manchester is home to a growing wave of agricultural biotech and agtech pioneers redefining how we grow, manage and distribute food.

This event brings together 4 companies leading that transformation: Bright Biotech, Gennate, Mushroom+, and SporeSense. These innovators are harnessing biology, data, and engineering in a variety of different ways to tackle challenges around food security, sustainability, and productivity.