Our Services

Connect Yorkshire runs a range of programmes designed to meet the needs of high-tech entrepreneurial companies and professionals working with technology companies. Activities focus on the needs of start-up and early stage companies by helping to evaluate the viability of new technologies and providing access to capital, professional services and management know-how.

Our Investor Readiness Training Programme is aimed specifically at helping innovative and ambitious technology businesses get fit for finance. Springboard is our mentoring and coaching by a selected group of experts including seasoned entrepreneurs who will provide recommendations for the next steps for your business. Both

To help catalyse interactions between investors and entrepreneurs we run Investment Forums, and the InvestorQuest Business Challenge and Competitions. In the run up to these events, our sponsors give their time to help mentor and prepare the presenting companies. To complement and extend these events, our investment portal www.mydealmaker.co.uk gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch to investors where ever they are, whenever they want.

We also see to turbocharge and speed up a companies development through our FastInvest Loan Scheme which is targeted at helping technology companies scale up their sales and marketing efforts.

And we seek to promote innovation and enterprise and do our bit to turn up the heat and pile on the pressure to get more things happening in the region.

Our activities provide training, advice, mentoring and social networking support useful for:

High technology entrepreneurs, typically scientists and engineers, needing management and financial skills, and support;
Increasing interaction between industry scientists and university researchers on important research issues as a way of accelerating the technology exchange and transfer process;
Providing technical briefings and education about the unique characteristics of high technology products, financing, R&D, manufacturing and marketing designed for service providers as a way of building the knowledge base and competencies of regional lawyers, bankers, accountants and marketing professionals;
Creating opportunities for high technology entrepreneurs, finance providers, research scientists and business service providers to interact on a regular and informal basis as well as through structured informational and educational activities;
Providing one-on-one technical and/or managerial assistance to individual entrepreneurs and companies;
Increasing local companies' access to national and international sources of R&D funding and capitalisation;
Increasing community awareness of the issues affecting the development of high technology enterprises and the potential economic returns of that development through a programme of community education and media relations;
Providing a community resource for data and information on the status of research activities and business development in the high technology sector.

The Programme operates through the sponsorship of ongoing informal and educational programmes. These are designed to support readiness to respond to new profit opportunities as they arise in rapidly developing high-tech markets.