Tech City Investment Organisation welcomes the world’s most innovative business minds to take part in Entrepreneurs Festival

London, 9^th November 2011: A year after Prime Minister David Cameron announced the launch of the Tech City initiative, the Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) will hold the Entrepreneurs Festival (November 14-19). 

The festival is a week-long event that will see more than 250 of the world’s best and brightest entrepreneurs join a business boot camp in London’s Tech City, Europe’s fastest growing technology cluster.

Eric van der Kleij, CEO of TCIO, said: “Facilitating investment and talent development by connecting people is what Tech City is all about. We’re bringing together tech start-ups from across the world to learn from some of the top mentors. This will give entrepreneurs everything they need to know to accelerate their growth and become the successful businesses of the future.”

Organised as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, Entrepreneurs Festival is the largest event of its kind staged in Europe. It is a unique opportunity for companies to take part in mentoring sessions and to showcase their companies to leading entrepreneurs and investors.

Tech City is recognised globally for its culture of innovation and its rapid growth, attracting increasing interest from businesses around the world. For the festival, about 80% of the entrepreneurs will be from outside the UK, including the US, India, Singapore, Russia, Spain, Iceland, Turkey, Ghana and South Africa.

The event will culminate in the best start-ups from the week pitching to an audience of top European and US investors. 

On November 16 – 17 Entrepreneurs Festival is based at the Tech City zone at Tech World , one of the UK’s largest technology shows at London ExCel Centre. Attendees of the show will take part in a number of activities including:

• The Entrepreneurs Festival Pitching Den
• Demo Alley
• Showcase Zone
• “How Do I?” Zone
• The Tech City Experience

TCIO was set up by UK Trade & Investment in March 2011. It is designed to help the existing cluster of tech-digital and creative companies flourish, as well as attract global business, entrepreneurs and high-value investment to the area. 

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Media contacts:

For more information contact the Tech City press office on 020 7413 3751 or [email protected]

Notes to editors:

The Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) was created in March 2011, following Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement of the Tech City initiative in the ‘Silicon Roundabout’ area of East London.

It stretches out from the financial heart of the City of London to Stratford and the Olympic Park in East London, and is the fastest growing technology cluster in Europe.

The TCIO team is a　unique combination of experienced entrepreneurs and UKTI business specialists. For more information, visit www.techcityuk.com or www.ukti.gov.uk/techcity or follow us @techcityuk

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the Government Department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy. We also help overseas companies bring their high quality investment to the UK’s economy – acknowledged as Europe’s best place from which to succeed in global business. UKTI offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and in British embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world. We provide companies with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage. For more information on UKTI, visit www.ukti.gov.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7215 8000. For latest press releases, visit the online newsroom at www.ukti.gov.uk/media

TechWorld 2011 (16 – 17 November 2011, ExCel, London), hosted by UK Trade & Investment and now in its 6th successful year, is the UK’s largest international technology event. Last year’s event saw more than 450 international investors from 50 countries meet with UK delegates and exhibitors from technology, science and research and development. In excess of 3000 one-to-one meetings were conducted and 45% of UK business attendees expected to generate revenue from international markets as a direct result of the event.

This year the event is focused on helping UK technology and science entrepreneurs increase overseas trade, access critical research and development and identify new markets for growth.