Adam has  over 20 years’ experience working on award-winning, high-profile brands as well as ambitious start-ups and scale-ups. These include TechWM, NEC Digital Studio, B2022 Commonwealth Games, and WWF. He believes the greatest challenge is the commercialisation of innovation and advises clients to think about building brands that mean more to achieve more.

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His work has won 11x Brands of The Year, 2x Identities Of The Year, Creative Agency Of The Year, Campaign Of The Year, and The Grand Prix for Brand Excellence at Transform Europe. 

Aditi is NHS Consultant Maternity & Gynaecology at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and founder of iCount, an innovative patient safety solution designed to prevent the problem of items accidentally retained in the body after childbirth and surgery. She believes in systems resilience and design, making it easier for healthcare professionals to do the right thing and deliver care safely.

Aditi has worked in women’s healthcare since graduating in 1995 and has led many NHS improvements. She was the college tutor for postgraduate doctors for several years, has many research publications and loves to sing in her free time.

Alex is CEO of TIN Ventures, which is a venture builder and micro-investment business focused on improving social mobility through employability, addressing fuel poverty and climate sustainability.

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He serves as Chair of the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce – Black Business Collective, as an Entrepreneur in Residence at The Open University, a NED for Brixton House cultural theatre venue, Solo Housing the homelessness charity, and an Advisory Board Member of the Innovation Alliance of the West Midlands, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art.

Chris is an experienced senior leader in higher education, working at STEAMhouse, renowned for driving innovation across the STEM and Arts disciplines. He leads a team of technical practitioners dedicated to transforming ideas into reality. His strategic leadership fuels a dynamic environment where interdisciplinary collaboration and open innovation drives real-world impact!

Chris’s expertise spans IoT, industrial and domestic automation, and green energy generation and storage, areas where his forward-thinking strategies have made a significant mark. Chris’s commitment to excellence and his passion for nurturing groundbreaking ideas continue to propel STEAMhouse towards a future where STEM and creativity seamlessly intersect.

David leads Coventry City Council’s Economic Strategy & Funding Team, leading the Authority’s work in economic policy and strategy, and engagement with WMCA in designing the region’s business and innovation support offer. 

He was also previously responsible for leading the EU Structural Funds Technical Assistance function in Coventry & Warwickshire, and working with local universities to lead the Authority’s input into EU-funded transnational co-operation projects focusing on business support and innovation. 

David was also a member of the team that populated the West Midlands bid to be European Capital of Innovation for 2024-2025 that reached the final three shortlist.    

Francisco leads the IP Hatch Program at Nokia, where he drives investments in early-stage startups through Nokia’s intellectual property. With a decade of experience in the IP world, he has been involved in multiple partnerships and deals related to IP strategy and commercialization.

Previously, Francisco spent seven years in blue-chip consumer goods companies, holding roles in marketing and strategy. He also worked as a management consultant at Bain & Co., advising on business growth and transformation.

Francisco holds a BA in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from IMD in Switzerland.

Iveta is a proud neurodivergent CEO and co-founder of Happy Autistic Lady Ltd and National Neurodiversity Training, a family-owned business inspired by her sister Vera’s autism diagnosis.

Known for award-winning neurodiversity training and awareness campaigns, they enable companies and universities to boost retention, reputation, and satisfaction. Expanding their reach internationally, they partner with organisations like Transport for West Midlands, several universities, and various international tech companies.

Iveta is also a speaker on neurodiversity and disability and a mentor for young aspiring female and neurodivergent entrepreneurs, actively raising awareness and inspiring future generations by sharing her lived experiences and expertise.

James is passionate about using cutting-edge technology to solve real-world challenges, and has 15+ years’ in marketing, founding and selling two businesses (MIB Business Data Solutions; Let's Run Social). Rupert is an AI-powered social media assistant, revolutionising management of customer interactions on social platforms. It streamlines engagement, enhances sentiment analysis, and optimises responses—helping brands stay connected with their audience.

As MD of Let's Run Marketing Group, James led businesses specialising in compliant B2B data, innovative social media advertising, and expert marketing strategies. He has acquired a deep understanding of data-driven decision-making and how to harness technology for growth.

Jof has split his career between senior innovation roles in banking and developing his own startups. He pioneered digital banking and was the product manager of the first Internet bank account (Egg Card) and the first open banking product (Egg Money).

In 2018 he co-founded the largest codeless development agency in Europe (Million Labs) and has invested in more than fifty startups in the West Midlands through his fund (Greater Things).

Katerina, winner of the 2025 Women in Innovation Award and the 2024 Innovate UK Unlocking Potential Award, is the Founder of LIGNOO—a trailblazing sustainable consumer brand harnessing innovative materials.

With a background in biomedical engineering and over 15 years in manufacturing, she has seamlessly integrated customer-driven design with digital transformation. Passionate about customer-driven design, she believes integrating user needs into product development is key to building impactful, scalable businesses. 

Jamie Elliott has over fifteen years of experience as an Open Innovation strategist and consultant. Prior to joining the West Midlands Combined Authority as their Innovation Lead in 2019, Jamie played an instrumental role in implementing the IXC Consultancy service in 2006 which supported high tech innovation in companies.

Jamie has worked in companies ranging from micro SME’s to multinationals, operating across diverse industry sectors such as food and drink, automotive, defence and FMCG. Jamie is currently the Delivery Manager-Business Programmes for the West Midlands Combined Authority overseeing the delivery of business support programmes.

Katharine manages the business of TechWM, a not-for-profit cluster body supporting businesses, organisations and individuals in the region to grow a £100bn tech economy by 2030. Over 15 years she has specialised in emerging digital tech and cleantech, supporting many businesses from start-up to sustainable profitability. She has also specialised in challenge-led innovation, finding tech solutions to societal and corporate challenges, involving public-private partnerships regionally, nationally, and transnationally in Europe, US and Asia.

Katharine is an independent expert for the EU Commission and an assessor for Innovate UK. She studied Economics and gained an MBA with prestigious ‘triple crown’ accreditation.

Keira Shepperson is Investment Director for regional funds at the British Business Bank. Keira has also worked in the Future Fund, change and finance teams during her nine years at the Bank. She previously held several finance roles at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and Audit Scotland and is a Chartered Accountant.

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Until recently, Keira was Chair of the UK Space Agency Audit and Risk Committee. In July 2024, Keira was appointed Non-Executive Management Committee Member and Audit and Risk Committee Chair of the Parole Board.

Laura Sadler has almost 20 years’ experience in economic development, including inward investment, business support and developing sub-regional partnerships to support economic growth. An economics graduate with a masters in regeneration, she has worked at local authorities across Yorkshire and the West Midlands and has been Economic Development manager at Dudley Council since 2022.

Laura is currently responsible for the delivery of Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley and the development of innovative delivery models to support grassroots entrepreneurship and foster a culture of innovation across Dudley borough.

Livia joined EBN – European Business and Innovation Centre Networks - in October 2020, being embedded in the projects team. As of 2025 she has been appointed as Head of International Project overarching the project managers team and being responsible for the identification of strategic opportunities.

In her role she facilitates the matchmaking aiming at establishing collaboration between peer organizations, and is charge of proposals writing.

In addition, Livia is responsible for the Sustainability, Agrifood and Health Special Interest Group (SIG) gathering EU|BICs with strong expertise and interest in the topic to share best practices, explore new trends and establish collaborations.

Lisa is a partner in the intellectual property team at Penningtons Manches Cooper and specialises in the life sciences sector. With a client base ranging from pharmaceutical companies to biotech start-ups and spin-outs, she advises on all stages of the drug development pathway including regulatory, pre-clinical and clinical development as well as on multi-party collaborations and spin-outs. She has particular experience in the development stage of new products, covering pipeline, co-development, out-licensing and in-licensing arrangements.

Lisa has a PhD in molecular microbiology and direct practical experience of working in the pharmaceutical industry managing clinical trials before re-training as a solicitor.

Louis is the creator of Novoville Shared Works, the software solution designed to revolutionise building improvements for homeowners, contractors and local authorities.

The web app was created in collaboration with the City of Edinburgh Council, Birmingham Council, with support from the Scottish Government and others. It offers an end-to-end journey for repairs, maintenance and retrofit works, including coordination of multiple stakeholders, a property logbook, thermal modelling, an integrated marketplace for procurement, and aggregated analytics.

Louis is Technical Lead at the National Retrofit Hub and has published research for the Scottish Government on national building databases.

Luke has wide ranging experience in raising finance for high growth companies as both an investor and an investee. He is now heading up Minerva Business Angels, the largest and most active business angel network specialising in raising equity investment into high growth businesses across the Midlands.

Minerva in the Midlands leads for a national programme aimed at increasing diversity in the industry. Luke is passionate about engaging a much wider range of founders and investors into Minerva to drive increased economic impact and looks forward to taking part in the discussion in the ‘Enterprise for All’ session at Venturefest WM 2025.

Magda is the CEO of Cytecom, a University of Warwick spinout focused on revolutionising medical diagnostics. With a PhD in Microbiology and over a decade of research experience, she leads Cytecom's development of a rapid diagnostic test for antimicrobial-resistant infections. Passionate about advancing healthcare solutions, her work aims to improve patient outcomes globally.

Mani Hayre has 15 years’ experience in sales and account management before moving to public sector life in 2020. She is currently Economic Growth Officer at Dudley Council. Her passion to help individuals and businesses are what drive her. She currently oversees Innovate Dudley an initiative set to increase innovation awareness, support, and funding in the Dudley borough.

Working closely with innovation partners, such as Innovate UK Business Growth this is being driven through a series of events and roundtable discussions to engage with businesses in the borough and fly the flag for innovation in Dudley.  

Marc’s journey has been defined by roles that connect him to young people’s lives: as an Anti-Social Behaviour Officer for housing associations, a Schools Engagement and Young Person Officer for West Midlands Police, and in community engagement roles supporting youth facing adversity, disenfranchisement, and disadvantage.

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EPIC embodies this vision. Its mission is to equip young entrepreneurs with the tools, confidence, and resilience they need to succeed, one step at a time. By fostering growth, ambition, and a sense of purpose, we empower the next generation to transform challenges into opportunities and their potential into success.

Mark stands at the forefront of one of the fastest moving technology industry trends: Battery Specialised Products & Renewable Energy particularly Battery Energy Storage Systems. He’s spent the past seven years passionately advocating a commercial/ industry-wide shift to energy storage.

His drive, enthusiasm long experience equips him for the new emerging markets for Electric Vehicles (practically for 2nd life EV batteries for reuse) and Energy Storage Solutions. A calculated risk-taker with deep industry knowledge, Mark has championed his enterprise with key supply chain providers, developed opportunities with major blue-chip companies and sits on the Government Faraday Battery Challenge Advisory Board. 

Monique is a dynamic, versatile professional known with a diverse background spanning teaching, business development, entrepreneurship, and consultancy. As founder and CEO of The Matcha Yaad, she blends the elegance of Japanese tradition with the bold flavours of Jamaica. Monique is a judge for the Great Taste Awards on the Guild of Fine Foods. She is also employed by Accenture and works as an EU CRM manager.

A proud graduate of Aston Business School, Monique received the prestigious Global MBA Student of the Year 2022 award and was the inaugural recipient of the Aston Enterprise Scholarship.

As co-Founder of D-RisQ, Nick has worked in multiple sectors including aerospace, defence, automotive, rail, autonomous systems in air, land, sea, nuclear decommissioning and cyber-security.

Having been a key author of DO-333, the Formal Methods Supplement to the de-facto software standard for aerospace, DO-178C, he was invited to be one of only 3 UK nationals to support the panel that develops advice for regulators on the DO-178C suite of documents. As CEO of D-RisQ, he sets the strategy for the business which is focused on the development of automatic formal methods verification tools and has a technical focus on certification.

Mr. Ikeda has over 20 years of experience across diverse industries, including manufacturing, trading, and global supply chain, particularly focusing on intellectual property management and strategic innovation. At NEC, He leads initiatives under the IP Hatch Program, leveraging open patents to foster collaboration with startups and drive co-creation projects.

He has facilitated the transfer of NEC's open patents to startups in USA, Asia and EU, generating substantial equity-based returns. He leads negotiations with technology platform startups and is actively exploring opportunities with UK and Hong Kong innovation networks and has established strategic alliances with international incubation and startup communities.

Olcay is a breakthrough and game-changing innovator with expertise in mechanical designs & analysis, multi-discipline engineering, robotics, mechatronics & industrial automation, software & process development. He also has experience in R&D, project management, business development and marketing and sales strategy.

Olcay works internationally – he has seven patents in seven countries and has held three EU Grants and has numerous other European awards and successes. For the European Commission he is Expert and Evaluator for HORIZON Europe Funding Programmes.

Oliver St John is the Deputy Director of the Innovation Ecosystem in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He leads the team responsible for developing the policy and investments that support innovation and business R&D and in particular those that support regional innovation.

Bendi is a technology company that radically reduces the risk of human rights, environmental and governance risks in supply chains. Olivier is a multiple-time tech entrepreneur with a background in big tech, AI, and media analytics, having held key roles at a globally recognized media publication and a leading DevOps platform.

They have previously built and scaled AI-driven platforms for enterprise clients, leading Bendi’s in-house AI and data engineering teams to develop cutting-edge, scalable technology for complex global supply chains. He's previously held senior roles at the Economist and CircleCI.

Pam is the founding Director of the Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands, a partnership working to stimulate innovation across the West Midlands through building a vibrant innovation ecosystem and catalysing collaborative activity focussed on demand-led innovation. She is also a founder and Executive Chair of Venturefest West Midlands. 

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A recognised authority in innovation as a driver for economic growth and improved public services, Pam has designed and delivered the WM Innovation Programme with WMCA and multiple business-facing partners. She was awarded an OBE for ‘services to innovation in the West Midlands in 2019.

Petros is a civil engineer and innovation scout at Arup, identifying early-stage scaling companies that could benefit from Arup's expertise across strategic, technical, and commercial development. He focuses on the Midlands, specializing in technologies that enhance sustainability and reduce carbon emissions in the built environment.

Petros’s experience includes major projects e.g. High Speed 2 and Public-Private Partnerships across Europe as a Lenders' Technical Advisor. He has held leadership roles within Midlands and European engineering groups, actively organizing conferences and roundtables on commercial aspects of the industry and advocating for professional development, conducting workshops e.g. on personal branding.

Rachel has 30 years’ experience sustainability and business, spanning both industry and academia. She holds degrees in mathematics and physics with honours, and a PhD in molecular electronics.  Since 2004, Rachel has worked with International Synergies, the world’s leading expert on industrial symbiosis, the circular economy in action.

Currently Chief Executive, Rachel leads the development and delivery of novel applications for climate mitigation, supply chain resilience, and green growth – solutions that have mitigated over 50Million tonnes of CO2.  She is a published author on industrial symbiosis and sustainable urban regeneration, an expert for BSI, and chaired the 2018 industry-led European CEN Workshop pre-standard for industrial symbiosis.

Dr. Sonia Reynolds is an award-winning inventor and entrepreneur, pioneering FOYSE (Fibre On Yarn Surface Entanglement), the fourth classification of textiles. As the founder of Zephlinear Ltd, she has developed a patented, sustainable textile technology with applications across multiple textile sectors, offering lightweight properties and streamlined manufacturing processes. Zephlinear has secured Innovate UK grants to advance cutting-edge research and commercialisation.

Affiliated with STEAMhouse and Midlands Aerospace, Sonia collaborates with industry and academia to drive meaningful change within the textile industry. Her expertise enables her to provide insights on leveraging R&D, securing funding, and fostering innovation in evolving economic landscapes.

FuturEnergy has developed a range of successful small-wind-turbines.  Recently, after developing a successful advanced pyrolysis system, (now entering series production), the company has repositioned itself.  Units derive purpose-engineered solid, liquid and gaseous products from waste materials and are commercially and environmentally sustainable. 

Steve’s background includes roles in aerospace gas turbines, rotary wing vibration control and supply of test systems for gas turbines and IC engines for aircraft, automotive and marine applications and end-of-line vehicle test.

Atmospheric carbon reduction via commercially sustainable processes is a company mantra.

Terry established Simworx in 2005 with a continual innovative R&D strategy. Simworx is a world leading specialist in the turnkey design, manufacture and supply of immersive media based attractions (AGV Dark Rides, Flying Theatres, Dynamic Motion Simulators etc). They have supplied 125+ installations used by 60+ million people/ year to theme parks and visitor attractions worldwide, working brands including Dreamworks, Ferrari, Sony Pictures, Marvel, BBC and many more.

Terry is also works with the Department of Business and Trade to promote UK Creative Industries to overseas markets and Chair the British Association of Amusement Parks, Piers & Attractions.