Events

Karren Brady, Managing Director of Birmingham Football Club

Ideas are great and business opportunities are even better, but you will need to quantify the idea and understand the risks/rewards so that investors are happy.

Date: Saturday 26 January 2023
Time: 10am-12pm
Venue: Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Coventry CB2 1PZ.

More important than having a great idea is figuring out how to sell it! Entrepreneurship may be instinctive, but presenting to venture capitalists benefits from rehearsal in the same way as a singer with raw talent still needs to be trained. We invite you to come and pitch your idea, receive feedback and learn from other pitches.

The masterclass will be led by Andrea Blakesley. Andrea founded Mudhut in late 2005 with the aim of advising individuals and organisations on complex verbal communication. Prior to founding Mudhut, Andrea spent three years as a Director of the Great Eastern Investment Forum, the leading UK business angel network based in Coventry. Responsible for the selection of early stage companies and recruitment of investors, Andrea also led the GEIF investment readiness programme, coaching over 100 companies on their investment presentations to private investors. Andrea has experience in consulting companies from a wide range of sectors including biotechnology, telecoms, finance, internet, leisure, engineering and the arts.

There is no need to register - just turn up.

Please note that £1k Challenge entrants are expected to attend.

Duncan Goose, founder of OneWater

When you are cash strapped, resource hungry and have only your vision and determination, how do you increase your odds to succeed? This social enterprise based on providing clean water in Africa will clarify.

Date: Wednesday 30 January 2023
Time: 6pm
Venue: Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Coventry CB2 1PZ.

Last term, teams of budding entrepreneurs from Coventry entered their business ideas into the £1k Challenge. On 30 January, 10 teams will be crowned winners and will walk away with £1000 each.

The Entrepreneurs’ Challenge has a history of success in creating companies. Since the first competition 9 years ago, we have had over 450 entries and awarded over £320,000 to 41 business ideas. These business ideas are now companies currently valued at more than £42m.

Join us at the CU Entrepreneurs’ £1k Awards Ceremony to meet the hottest entrepreneurs in Coventry, network with the Coventry business community and be serenaded by Britain’s entrepreneur of the moment, Levi Roots.

Levi Roots is a reggae musician, chef and entrepreneur. He gained widespread fame after singing his way into a £50k cash injection for his "Reggae Reggae Sauce", a barbeque sauce made to his grandmother’s secret recipe, on Dragons’ Den. Weeks later, Reggae Reggae Sauce sold out on its first day on the shelves of Sainsbury’s.

Please signup for this event using the following form:

Date: Saturday 2 February 2023

Time: 2pm

Venue: Judge Business School

Do you have a business idea but no team? Perhaps you’re looking for a team to be part of. Maybe you’re seeking that crucial expertise that’s so hard to find.

At ordinary networking events, you can normally expect to meet fewer than 6 new people during an entire evening. At Speed Networking, you are guaranteed to meet 25 new people per hour, face-to-face, whose interests will be attuned to your own. Remember that even if people at first sight do not seem directly relevant to you, it is likely that they will know someone who is and visa versa.

Signups for this event have now closed.

Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, founder of Cobra Beer and CfEL Visiting Entrepreneur

How to build a team capable of delivering your vision.

Date: Saturday 9 February 2023

Time: 10am

Venue: Judge Business School

CUE would like to invite you to our business training event on Saturday 9th February at 10am in the Judge Business School.

Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur, setting up your first company, or even just want to find out what it takes to be an entrepreneur, everyone is welcome to attend.

Our Keynote speaker is Lee Smith, one of the founding members of ARM, who will tell us the story of how a company that started with 12 engineers in Coventry became a global standard: their embedded microprocessors are used in most digital devices on the planet today!

For the ambitious, this event will also prepare you for the £5k challenge. In our first talk, at 10am, Bob, Pettigrew, a competition judge, will share his views on what kind of entries impress him.
Remember that to enter the £5k Challenge, you will need to write an executive summary of up to 3500 words and submit it to us by 11.59pm GMT on the 22nd of February.

Please note: The event begins at 10am prompt, so please arrive before then. There is no need to register.

Louisa Fletcher, Property Price Advice

Understanding how to match your business idea with the sources of funding is central to being able to raise money for your ideas. This young entrepreneur will explain how she managed to raise money for her rapid growth business.

Professor Sir Richard Friend, University of Coventry Department of Physics
Stuart Evans and John Mills, Plastic Logic

The scientist working with entrepreneurs and managers can better bring the vision of the idea to market. The devil is in the detail of making things happen and this top team will explain it to you.