Step into a space where every conversation could spark something new. Enjoy music, refreshments, and a lively atmosphere designed to bring people together, whether you’re exchanging ideas, discovering collaborators, or simply sharing a laugh. This is the perfect moment to unwind, connect, and let serendipity guide your evening.

Join us before the main event to explore the Innovator Showcase, where you’ll have the chance to meet the talented startups. Be the first to experience the innovative technologies and forward-thinking ideas on display.

🥨 GoGloote creates nutritious, handmade gluten-free snacks that make gluten-free living easier and more enjoyable. Built to support the coeliac and gluten-intolerant community, the brand is on a mission to make great-tasting, accessible food available to everyone.

💆 Makeup.MYU is a wellbeing business with MYU Massage as its dedicated mobile massage and workplace wellbeing service. Through its “we go to you” model, it brings professional massage and practical wellbeing directly to workplaces, residential communities and organisations across Greater Manchester.

🔒 CyberSafe Coach is a Lancashire-based online safety platform helping charities, schools, small businesses and families build lasting confidence with everyday digital risk.

🐱 PawSano is a Manchester based cat care brand developing premium, plant based and fully biodegradable cat litter solutions. It combines high performance odour control with a strong focus on sustainability, trusted by breeders and embraced by modern pet owners to create cleaner, fresher and more environmentally conscious homes.

This practical workshop is designed for early-stage founders and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to better understand the financial side of developing a business idea. The session will focus on two key areas: how to write the financial section of a business proposal, including financial projections, costs, revenues, cash flow, and key assumptions; and how startups can explore and access different sources of funding. Through practical examples, participants will learn how to present their financial plans clearly and understand the funding options available to support their business development and growth.

Introduction from Venture Café. 

Joining us on the evening will be a panel of expert leaders who will not only evaluate each pitch, but also share their expertise, offer practical feedback and help bridge the gap between founders' asks and actionable opportunities within the community.

Each leader brings a unique perspective from their field and can provide valuable insights on turning compelling ideas into real world customers, collaborators, investment opportunities and sustainable growth.

Six founders. Three minutes each. Countless opportunities to connect. 💡

Six founders will take to the stage to share what they're building in a quick three minute pitch before ending with one clear ask. Maybe they're looking for an introduction, a collaborator, a customer or someone with a specialist skill. Then it's over to you. If you can help, speak up. You never know where one conversation could lead.

Get ready to hear from these startups:

🛍️ Morvo is an AI personal shopper that your brand owns and your customers trust. It transforms browsing on your ecommerce site into natural conversations, helping visitors find exactly what they're looking for faster and with less friction.

🎵 Goofball Studio is a creative technology company building products that make music more human, ethical and joyful. Its first product, MeloMi, is a privacy first AI music player that combines nostalgic hardware with intelligent playlisting, while encouraging music ownership and fairer support for artists.

🌍 Ndewo Finance is a UK based fintech building cross border credit infrastructure for migrants and diaspora communities. Operating at the intersection of financial inclusion, regulatory strategy and emerging technology, it's helping make financial services more accessible across borders.

🤖 Magicops is an AI first CRM and intelligent receptionist platform featuring automated task allocation and team productivity tracking. Designed to eliminate administrative overhead, it empowers businesses to focus on what truly matters.

🛡️ Open Portfolio is building the boundary layer for Sovereign Financial AI, enabling regulated financial institutions to securely adopt frontier AI models while meeting DORA, EU AI Act, and UK GDPR data residency requirements.

🧠 BlueFairy is a team intelligence layer that understands intra-team context and surfaces the right updates to the right people at the right time.

Founders spend enormous amounts of time preparing for the pitch. Very few prepare for what happens after it.

Whether you've pitched on stage, attended a networking event or met a potential investor, customer or collaborator, the real value is created by the decisions you make once the conversation ends.

This practical session introduces a simple operating framework founders can use to decide who to follow up with, when to do it and why, helping transform conversations into customers, partnerships, investment opportunities and long-term relationships.

Built from observations across Manchester's startup ecosystem, this workshop focuses on execution rather than theory, giving founders practical tools they can apply after their very next event.