Venturefest was back with a bang this year, hosting start-ups, innovators, tech corporates and hundreds of like-minded delegates at Bristol’s landmark tech and creative hub, The Engine Shed.

The brainchild of Lord Sainsbury and Professor Peter Johnson, bred from a conversation about the lack of investment opportunities for innovation, Venturefest has been established in Bristol since 2011, and has slowly become the annual go-to destination for all that innovate.

The event, which has enjoyed huge success in previous years and was no different this year. Showcasing inspiring technology, innovation and exhibits of unprecedented scope including a driverless Bowler Wildcat from BAE systems. Not to mention our very own exhibition stand.

Following a successful Venturefest debut in 2013 we were raring to be involved with this years’ event. As in 2013, we opted to create a production line that showcased our manufacturing capability and gave delegates a glimpse into a traditional PCB production line.

We used our pick and place machine and reflow oven to manufacture 200 bespoke business cards programmed with a challenging LED game, which we handed out to delegates. We apologise in advance if attempting to conquer the game has resulted in any loss of sleep or frustration.

Throughout the day we met some people from young entrepreneurs and SME’s to spin out projects including Sphere, a project targeted at developing wearable technology for the healthcare industry and Yu-Scan, a medical scanning device targeted at connecting users with medical informatics. We hope to be able to continue the conversation with everyone we met over the coming months.

After such a good experience this week at Venturefest Bristol and Bath, we are now exploring the idea of exhibiting at Venturefest Wales. Stay tuned, who knows what will be manufacturing next.

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Looking ahead

We've got a busy month ahead! We are in competition with local companies to win the ‘Start-up of the Year’ at the Bristol Post awards, plus our Managing Director, Paul Mullen, has been nominated for ‘Director of the Year’ in the IoD SW Director awards.

Wish us luck, we hope the company wide effort put in to sourcing the most appropriate black-tie attire will be worth it!