Bootstrapping your innovative venture: The surprising reasons it can be good for you.

While a lot of ventures seek funding to get off the ground, there are some surprising reasons why postponing or eliminating the need for external funds can be good for your business.

Join us on Zoom here to learn about the process of bootstrapping and methods to gain market traction with minimum investment requirements.

This event will focus on innovations with a social impact and is part of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Leaders in Innovation Fellowships programme community activities. The Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) programme brings together emerging leaders from across the globe who have an engineering based innovation that has the potential to contribute to the social and economic development of their country through commercialisation.

The event will begin with an interactive presentation from Viren Lall, Managing Director of ChangeSchool, on how inventors and academic entrepreneurs can increase the value of their ventures and minimise the risk for investors by bootstrapping the early growth and securing early leads.

The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with entrepreneurs and awardees of various Royal Academy of Engineering programmes, participants of LIF, the Enterprise Hub, and the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation will share their own stories and experiences of bootstrapping their innovative businesses and why and how they did it.

Throughout the event the audience will be invited to ask their questions and engage with the speaker and the panellists, so be prepared to contribute.

Speakers:

Keynote speaker:

Viren Lall, Managing Director ChangeSchool. Adjunct Professor and educator on entrepreneurship, innovation and behavioural change

Panellists:

Entrepreneurs and awardees of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Leaders in Innovation Fellowships,  Enterprise Hub, and Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation programmes.

Audience:

Inventors and academic researchers wanting to understand the key principles and considerations for bootstrapping a venture, and to learn about some non-conventional ways to fund a venture, without giving up stake or control.

Programme:

1.20pm – Zoom ‘waiting room’ opens

1.30pm – Welcome and housekeeping

1.40pm – Interactive webinar: The key principles and considerations for bootstrapping a venture

2.40pm – Audience question preparation

2.45pm – Panel discussion with entrepreneurs from Royal Academy of Engineering’s Leaders in Innovation Fellowship,Enterprise Hub, and Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation programmes and audience Q&A

3.25pm – Event wrap-up

3.30pm – Zoom event closes

Tickets

The event is free of charge but Zoom registration is required. Register for the event here.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email that will contain Zoom login details and an outline of the event. For further information about the event, please contact Hollie.Andrews@raeng.org.uk