Bring in the experts

You may be an entrepreneur without even knowing it.

Maybe you’re a scientist who knows everything about the exceptional intellectual property (IP) you’ve just developed but next to nothing about commercialising it.

What you need is support from someone who has been there, done it and…done it again.

This is where the Global Entrepreneurs Programme can assist you.

We provide access to finance, key business networks, talent, legal and regulatory knowledge. We also accompany potential investors on exploratory visits and will help you to set up in the UK.

A personal touch

If you're thinking about setting up in the UK you want someone who understands your industry and the UK business environment, and our dealmakers are available to provide that personal touch.

They are established, successful, and (in many cases serial) entrepreneurs who act as mentors, non-executive directors and matchmakers between technology start-ups and potential investors.

Constant expansion

The UK Trade & Investment dealmaker network is growing all the time, with two recent additions in Australia joining others in the USA and India.

Australian Anthony Bertini, a specialist in media-technology convergence companies, is a serial entrepreneur with a record of developing companies for listing.

He’s also a founding partner of Thumper One, set up to advise business and government on technological change.

Each brings to the start-up their own investor networks, knowledge, access to finance, talent and understanding both of regulation and of the UK technology sector.

The purpose of the Global Entrepreneurs Programme, says its head Derek Goodwin, is “to enhance the entrepreneurial gene pool of the UK.

“It’s the melting pot of development.”

So what’s in it for the dealmakers? Certainly not the money.

Under the rules of the Programme, they don’t invest in any company they help.

Creating a buzz, and getting a buzz

“They just love the idea of finding the next big technology company,” says Goodwin.

“They get a kick out of it.

“One describes it as ‘having a good time trying to find the next billion-dollar company’.”

The innovation agenda

The Programme is part of an innovation agenda that scouts companies with IP that could make a difference to the UK.

A solid investor-protection framework, transparent business legislation, the English language advantage, and sophisticated protection for IP all mean that the UK has considerable advantages.

“We’re plugging a gap,” says Goodwin.

“You’ll have a US company that has developed a technology but wouldn’t necessarily have thought of the UK. Now they will.”

What’s in it for you?

The proof of the Programme’s value is in the 100 per cent success rate to date.

The dealmakers have attracted 40 different investors to these companies in three years, raising US$100 million for their clients.

Above all, dealmakers can penetrate venture capitalist networks that simply would be closed even to a high-potential technology start-up.

One-on-one support

Not only do they give Programme participants one-on-one support; they also bring potential investors on exploratory visits and help them set up in the UK.

“It takes an entrepreneur to make an entrepreneur,” says Goodwin.

“These are qualified technology companies helped by successful entrepreneurs with access to sources of finance. We back winners.”

And although he says the team is “strict on green-lighting a project”, he points to the ongoing relationships with enterprises on the Programme.

“Once a client, always a client,” he says.