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Join our Lightning Pitch session where you’ve got just 60 seconds to introduce yourself and share your business or idea with the room. It’s fast, fun, and a brilliant way to meet fellow founders, spark conversations and get your idea out into the Manchester startup community.

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📍 Venue: SISTER – Renold Building, 32a Altrincham Street, Manchester, M1 7JR

\r\n

Great ideas don't succeed on their own - they need people to believe in them. Whether you're seeking investment, customers, collaborators, grant funding or internal buy-in, your ability to communicate your vision can make all the difference.

\r\n

Join experts from across the innovation ecosystem to explore how successful ideas earn support, build credibility and create momentum. Through practical insights, real-world experiences and interactive discussions, discover how to make the case for your innovation - and inspire others to help bring it to life.

\r\n

Powered by Advanced Research + Invention Agency

\r\n

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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.

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Great ideas don’t always come with simple explanations. Whether you’re talking to an investor, potential partner, customer or collaborator, being able to communicate what matters – and why – can make all the difference.

\r\n

This practical workshop will help founders and innovators cut through complexity, identify the message their audience really needs to hear, and communicate it with greater clarity and confidence. You’ll explore how to strip away jargon, sharpen your story and make sophisticated ideas accessible without dumbing them down.

\r\n

Come with an idea, challenge or message. Leave with a clearer, more compelling way to make it land.

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Will Pretsell is a communication coach and speaker who helps ambitious professionals and founders turn complex ideas into clear, compelling messages. A former actor, Will now works with teams and leaders to improve presence, storytelling and influence in meetings, pitches and everyday conversations. He has supported over 1,200 startups through accelerators including Techstars, helping founders craft pitches and decks that engage investors and drive action. His clients have gone on to secure more than $120 in follow on funding, and successfully build successful companies. Within Manchester and the Northwest, Will has delivered workshops and coaching for organisations such as Natwest, Sister Manchester KPMG, EY and PWC, bringing practical tools that make confident communication feel learnable, not mysterious.

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Venture Café is a global movement built on a simple but powerful belief: isolation is the enemy of innovation.

Through our weekly Thursday Gatherings, founders, researchers, investors and innovators come together to share ideas, explore new technologies and build meaningful connections. As ecosystem activators, Venture Café Manchester is creating a central hub for the city’s innovation ecosystem, driving visibility, collaboration and community.

And if you’d like to get more involved with Venture Café, there are plenty of ways to join our network:

🤝 Become a partner
🎤 Speak at an upcoming Thursday Gathering
🙌 Join our ambassador team
💬 Connect with us on LinkedIn
📩 Sign up for our weekly newsletter

",{"_33":47,"_48":49,"_50":133},{"_33":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58},"https://storage.googleapis.com/gatherus-app/session_images/Website_Photos_12_cjX9dZE.webp","https://storage.googleapis.com/gatherus-app/session_images/thumbnails/thumb_Website_Photos_12_cjX9dZE.webp",[137],{"_33":47,"_112":138,"_114":139,"_116":140,"_118":73,"_120":141,"_122":-5,"_123":142,"_125":22},"Andrew","Ruffler","Director","https://storage.googleapis.com/gatherus-app/profile_photos/venture-cafe-manchester/2026/04/02/61c3e372f328404a901206490739adbe.jpg","

Andrew Ruffler is Director of Venture Café Manchester, leading the development of a programme of activity to connect the city’s innovation community.

\r\n

Previously, Andrew was CEO of Professional Liverpool, guiding the organisation through the COVID-19 pandemic, and spent seven years as Regional Director at RIBA North West. Most recently, he was Director (North) at Sustainable Ventures, supporting climate-tech innovation and ecosystem growth.

\r\n

Andrew has extensive experience spanning enterprise, innovation, the built environment and civic leadership.

",[],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":26,"_44":26,"_45":145,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":147,"_69":8,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73,"_75":148},{"_33":47,"_48":49,"_50":146},{"_33":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58},[],[],{"_33":150,"_35":151,"_37":152,"_39":153,"_41":154,"_43":26,"_44":26,"_45":155,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":157,"_65":158,"_67":159,"_69":8,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73,"_75":170},261,"Fireside Chat: Backing What's Next","

What does the landscape look like for ambitious innovators looking to build, fund and scale their ideas?

\r\n

This fireside-style discussion brings together regional and national perspectives to explore the forces shaping innovation in the UK. We’ll look at the North's evolving investment landscape, alongside ARIA’s perspective on the national innovation landscape and the opportunities emerging around new technologies, ideas and approaches.

\r\n

Expect a practical conversation about where the opportunities are now, what’s changing, and what founders and innovators should be paying attention to next.

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Part of the Product team at ARIA, specialising in product operations. Focused on building operational systems and identifying exceptional talent to support ARIA’s Programme Directors in pursuing breakthrough scientific and technological innovation. Formerly led programme operations at Entrepreneur First London.

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Details TBC.

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