Leeds tech start-up to host new business freshers’ fair

6 years ago

A Leeds-based technology business is to host a new business freshers’ fair for the region’s exciting growing businesses and entrepreneurs.

LightStart Apps will be hosting the NewBiz Freshers’ Fair at its Platform offices in Leeds city centre on Friday 23 March. The New Biz Freshers’ Fair will run from 9.00am to 12.00pm and is free to attend.

The event has been organised as an opportunity for young start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs to showcase their business and to network with a range of supporting businesses and investors who will be on hand to provide strategic advice on areas such as funding, growth, recruitment, marketing and PR.

The NewBiz Freshers’ Fair will feature a range of young businesses which will be located at stands across the event space and their founders will be on hand to share the work they do and their entrepreneurial stories. The event will also feature guest speakers from businesses that are spon-soring the event and they will be presenting on a range of topics and sharing their own experienc-es of their entrepreneurial journey. A selection of complimentary refreshments will be provided throughout the event morning by local business, Laynes.

This year’s NewBiz Freshers’ Fair builds on the success of the inaugural event which LightStart Apps hosted in 2017. Last year, 35 businesses exhibited and there was a range of business types and sectors on display to more than 70 guests who attended. LightStart’s NewBiz Freshers Fair is one of the only start-up fairs in the region that is free to attend, free to exhibit and keeps the fo-cus on young businesses, supporting them through offering services at an accessible price point.

New for 2018, LightStart’s NewBiz Fresher’s Fair will also feature an investment and government funding area which will serve as an advice clinic for businesses to meet with investors and receive strategic guidance on how to pitch, structure their investment pack as well as an opportunity to ask investors for their insight on any other topics of interest when securing investment for their business.

Investors and funds that will be attending will include AD:VENTURE, Entrepreneurial Spark, Busi-ness Enterprise Fund, Venturian, North Invest, Mercia and Rebuilding Society.

LightStart Apps was founded by local businessmen Simon Edwards and Dan Akers in 2016. The business works with people and businesses who have ideas for new digital products, such as mobile apps or web apps, and takes the idea through development to a successful launch. In 15 months, the company has grown its client base to include 20 businesses from digital start-ups through to £60M turnover businesses.

The NewBiz Freshers’ Fair is being sponsored by a number of leading businesses from the region including AD:VENTURE, Bruntwood and MacComms. MacComms will also be running a PR challenge in which businesses attending the NewBiz Freshers’ Fair can submit a press release prior to the event on a piece of exciting news for their company. The MacComms team will judge all the entries and the one that is deemed to be the winner will be distributed to a variety of media outlets across the region as a prize.

Simon Edwards, co-founder of LightStart said:

“We’re really looking forward to launch this year’s NewBiz Freshers’ Fair and we’re excited to welcome a range of young and exciting businesses from across region to come together to share ideas, network and receive strategic advice from some of Yorkshire’s leading businesses.

“We’ve got a really good group of businesses confirmed to attend and we’re delighted to launch the investors area which is new for 2018. In this, attendees will be able to speak to investors to gain insight and advice which will help them to pitch their businesses for investment more effec-tively in future.”

Sarah Carling, AD:VENTURE programme manager added:

“We’re delighted to be sponsoring this fantastic event for the second year in a row and we’re really looking forward to seeing a range of exciting businesses in attendance. The region has a whole host of start-up and scale-ups that are experiencing high growth, and this is brilliant news for Yorkshire’s business scene.

“The NewBiz Freshers’ Fair will provide a valuable opportunity to bring many of these businesses together where they can share their stories and receive strategic advice from a range of supporting businesses to help them as they continue on their growth journeys.”

Tickets for the event can be booked on the Eventbrite link: https://nbff2.eventbrite.co.uk

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About LightStart

LightStart, the digital design house, was founded by Simon Edwards and Dan Akers in mid-2016. The start-up tech firm builds digital products for its clients including mobile apps, web apps and the underlying platforms that drive them. The core team has 45 years of experience building and launching digital products. LightStart are a thought-leader at the forefront of the digital community in Yorkshire and ensure this through its client projects, its labs projects and by running events for the local tech and business community. In 9 months, the company has grown its client base to include 12 businesses from digital start-ups through to £60M turnover businesses. Uniquely, LightStart run free innovative events with an annual calendar of over 50 events, all of which are free to attend. As well as building digital products for clients, LightStart has created LightStart LABS to build its own ideas and get them to market.