Activation Partners

For this Thursday Gathering, we’re bringing together researchers, founders, and ecosystem connectors for an evening built around inspiration and possibility. Expect lightning talks, showcases, and a welcoming space to ask: what if?

Interest in metascience and AI for science has risen in the last year, with new ways of conducting and funding research growing across the UK, US, and beyond. Skeptics say we’ve had decades of metascience thinkers but repeatedly hear about innovation and technologies being held back.

So what’s new? And what works? Join BuildsBio, Renphil, UCL & Science Works to explore some of the foundational challenges with metascience & the opportunities ahead as we optimise research productivity

This Thursday Gathering, delivered in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University’s Fashion Institute, explores how fashion and textiles are being reshaped by sustainability, regulation and innovation. Bringing together researchers, startups, corporates and organisations including Age UK, the session will examine shifting legislation, supply chain disruption and the rise of regenerative business models.

Every business needs the right support to grow, but female-led businesses often face a narrower view of what that support looks like. Equity investment is a powerful route, but it’s not the only option. From crowdfunding to IP-backed lending, many businesses thrive on a mix of funding sources, yet these options often lack visibility, leaving founders unsure what’s available or right for their stage and sector.

This special Thursday Gathering, in partnership with Pathways Forward and Scottish EDGE, is designed to make connections that matter and focus on practical actions, not just another diagnosis of the problem.

When the world sets shared goals, how do we rise to meet them? The Sustainable Development Goals offer a blueprint that can unlock new thinking, new partnerships and new impact across sectors. We will dive into proven strategies, inspiring initiatives, and the ways organisations can turn intention into measurable outcomes.

Join us for an evening of honest, evidence-based conversation about what social media is actually doing to our bodies and minds. You will hear from thought leaders working at the sharpest edge of this question, and leave with a richer understanding of the science, the stakes, and what might be done.

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. 

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...

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.