Boohoo chief in dragons line-up
THE co-founder of Boohoo.com is kick starting a Dragons Den-style pitching event for students and graduates from the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.
Joint chief executive of the Manchester-based online fashion retailer, Mahmud Kamani, is giving the opening speech at the event on Wednesday March 18, bringing together investors and businesses from across the city in the UK’s first University Demo Day.
Co-ordinated by award winning student society Manchester Entrepreneurs, the event will showcase eight of the most innovative start-up businesses that were launched this year. The founders vary from undergraduate to PhD students.
More than 200 influential guests will attend the event, hosted at the Old Granada Studios development in Spinningfields in partnership with Hello Work. The venue is set to become the heart of Manchester’s digital and creative neighbourhood – and home to the next generation of digital start-ups.
Director of research and innovation at the University of Manchester, Luke Georghiou, said: “The University of Manchester has a fantastic track record in producing student entrepreneurs and I was delighted to be able to support an initiative from the students themselves. This kind of hands on approach widens the offer available. I look forward to seeing further successes.”
The event is being run in conjunction with Co Angel Investment, the business angel network launched last year by the Manchester Growth Company. Investors from the network will be in attendance looking to find opportunities to fund exciting student and graduate businesses.
This comes as Manchester gears up to become the home of Tech North, a new initiative announced by David Cameron last week to enhance the digital economy in the North of England.
Director at Manchester Entrepreneurs, Tom McCann, said: “The Manchester Universities Demo Day is a fantastic way to bring the academic community together with the emerging start-up community in the city – at a time when Manchester is being focused on nationally as a start-up hub.”
The event is being supported by the Business Growth Hub, Business Finance Solutions, Innospace, Natwest, Chancery Accounts and the University of Manchester Incubator Company.
