Workshops and Roundtables

Hosted by UBS

Only 2% of venture capital funding goes to women-led companies globally, despite female founders generating 2.5x more revenue per dollar invested. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is ripe for transformation, with the potential for equal gender participation in entrepreneurship to unlock global GDP by an estimated rise from 3-6%.  Despite systemic barriers continuing to limit female founders' access to capital we see some positive indicators in the right direction.

UBS is hosting a panel discussion during Cambridge Tech Week to explore the opportunities to fund more women founders, revolutionize investment strategies, explore what is working and what’s not and discuss what more can be done to unlock the full economic potential of women-led businesses. The discussion will be run by Emma Wheeler, Head of Women’s Wealth at UBS, and our panellists of female founders and venture capitalists who will share their valuable experience during the workshop.

Hosted by Edenbase

Join us for an exclusive LP Roundtable at Cambridge Tech Week with seasoned entrepreneurs and investors Daniel Doll-Steinberg and Eric Van Der Kleij from EdenBase, a venture investment platform and ecosystem.

Daniel and Eric bring deep entrepreneurial and investment experience having built and exited multiple ventures, managed capital as a family office and created ecosystems that have supported the growth of more than one-third of the UK’s unicorns. In addition, Daniel is a Bloomberg Book of the Year nominated author in the “People in Leadership” category for Unsupervised: Navigating and Influencing a World Controlled by Powerful New Technologies.

In this interactive discussion, we will explore:

• What counts as a frontier technology—and why these breakthroughs matter now
• How to approach early-stage investing in these technologies and where value can be generated for investors
• The critical factors for success when backing frontier technology ventures

This roundtable offers a rare opportunity to gain insights directly from leaders who have not only invested in but actively shaped the ecosystems around some of the most transformative technologies of our time.

Daniel Doll-Steinberg

Co-Founder and General Partner, EdenBase

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Eric Van der Kleij

Co-Founder and General Partner, EdenBase

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Hosted by Cambridge Management Consulting

Join us for an exclusive event tailored for senior technology leaders in large corporations. The Technology Adoption For Leaders event offers a unique peer-to-peer platform to explore the planning, strategy, and practical application of deep tech in the corporate world.

• What is the impact of AI on enterprise technology, and how can it improve efficiency?
• How do you discover, and adopt, the technology solutions that will transform your organisation?
• What is the best way to sustainably future proof your business and its supply chain?
• How do you look at intrapreneurship within your organisation?

This is your chance to build valuable relationships, exchange groundbreaking ideas, and gain insights from experts who excel at transforming deep tech into world-first organisations.

Interested in being part of this transformative experience? Interested parties should complete this form by no later than 31 August, ideally sooner as spaces are strictly limited. Please note that places are limited to leadership-level corporate users.

Hosted by Frazier & Deeter

Join James Douglas, Advisory Partner at Frazier & Deeter and Stuart Campbell, CEO of Aibly for a compelling discussion on how Agentic AI is reshaping the scaling journey for UK startups. This session draws on real-world CFO insights and explores how the emergence of Agentic AI can help companies and founders identify and overcome growth barriers, build resilience with more informed decision making and reshape their scaling journey. Discover the new CXO playbook for growth with AI, and how to align strategy, people, and technology for lasting impact. If you're a CXO looking to scale smarter and faster, this session is designed for you.

Hosted by Venner Shipley

Intellectual property (IP) is often one of a start-up’s most powerful yet underutilised assets. In deeptech, where breakthrough innovation is central to success, understanding how to strategically protect, manage and leverage IP can make the difference between stalling and scaling. 

Join us for a high-impact workshop designed for founders, innovators, and investors.

In this interactive session, we will explore how a well-crafted IP strategy can unlock commercial value, attract investment and protect your competitive edge. Hear from founders who have done it, investors who look for it and experts who live and breathe it, as we dive into practical ways to build effective IP strategies that create long term business value.

Hosted by Black Talent & Leadership in STEM

Technology continues to drive innovation-led growth in the UK’s science and technology sectors. However, every wave of advancement also brings new challenges—deepening inequalities, demanding new skillsets, and concentrating opportunities in specific regions and demographics.

Research from the Institute for the Future of Work (2025) and the Pissarides Review shows that unchecked automation is compounding existing disparities across age, geography, and income. This Roundtable will explore how we can bridge the gap between innovation and inclusion—ensuring that technological progress supports everyone, not just a select few and how organisations can create an environment that nurtures inclusive leaders.

Key Discussion Themes:

Workforce Disruption & Automation
Automation is disproportionately affecting low-paying roles such as admin, sales, and transportation—placing 7.4% of jobs at high risk (Shepheard, 2021). At the same time, over 21 million working-age adults in the UK lack basic digital skills.

Diversity Fuels Innovation—But Gaps Persist
While diversity of thought is widely acknowledged as a catalyst for innovation, only 24% of tech roles in the UK are held by women—despite women comprising 50% of the workforce (Beckett, 2024). Ethnic minorities and immigrant talent remain underrepresented in STEM (GOV.UK, 2023).

Inequitable Access to Training and Technology
Without inclusive upskilling policies, AI and automation risk worsening the digital divide. Barriers persist across socioeconomic status, geography, and age (IFOW, 2025).

The Rise of Skill Polarisation
The UK is experiencing growing skill polarisation, where demand is rising for high-skilled roles while mid- and low-skilled jobs—especially those involving routine physical or cognitive tasks—are increasingly at risk of automation. This shift is creating a widening skills gap and makes extensive retraining essential. Future employability will depend on developing creativity, adaptability, digital fluency, and core computer and AI skills (Sharps et al., 2024).

Shifting Workforce Demographics
Despite a strong labour market—with unemployment at 3.7% and over one million vacancies—the UK faces growing strain on workforce composition due to an ageing population, rising economic inactivity, and tighter migration policies. Employment rates are particularly low among older adults, people with disabilities, and those with lower skill levels, many of whom face barriers such as outdated qualifications, limited digital skills, and inflexible work arrangements. To meet future demand, the UK must invest in inclusive reskilling initiatives, promote flexible work models, and remove systemic barriers that prevent underutilised groups from fully participating in the workforce (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, 2023).

Urgent Need for Future Skills
Technology continues to drive innovation-led growth across the UK’s science and tech sectors, but each wave of advancement brings new demands for skills. To remain competitive, businesses must invest in continuous upskilling—particularly in digital, STEM, and “T-shaped” skills that blend technical knowledge with creativity, communication, and adaptability.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, analytical thinking, self-management, and computer literacy will be core competencies by 2025. However, significant gaps remain: Government data reveals that 23% of 18–24-year-olds cannot complete basic digital tasks (Pennycook & Phillipson, 2024), and 40% of IT employers identify general digital literacy and AI/ML as the most in-demand skills (Beckett, 2024).

In this context, the UK’s Industrial Strategy—aimed at boosting economic growth and job creation—must be supported by coordinated efforts across education, industry, and policy to equip the workforce with future-ready skills and ensure inclusive, sustainable progress.

Why This Roundtable Matters

As the UK government’s Industrial Strategy prioritises economic growth, technological advancement, and job creation, this Roundtable presents a timely opportunity to align these goals with broader societal needs. By bringing together leaders from industry, policy, and academia, the discussion will explore how innovation can be leveraged not just for productivity and competitiveness, but also for inclusive growth and equitable access to opportunity, by adapting and putting in place strategies that nurture and grow inclusive leadership.

Harnessing technology with intentionality, blended with inclusive leadership can enable both the public and private sector to unlock new talent pools, strengthen workplace diversity, and address regional and social disparities—ultimately driving long-term value for both society and the economy.

This Roundtable is by invite only.