Thread by @brenthoberman

🧵 #LondonTechWeek Thread! Monday, Day 1

@LDNTechWeek kicks off with @foundersfactory announcing their new £100m Planet Fund, backed by @skyuk - well done team!

@Founders_Forum Group CEO, @carolyndawson_ , gave a warmly-received opening address before a surprise appearance.../1

@LDNTechWeek @foundersfactory @SkyUK @Founders_Forum @carolyndawson_ Chancellor @RishiSunak joined to open #LTW, proclaiming capital, people & ideas as the bedrock of an innovative UK.
He also announced a new addition to the gov's #NewDigitalStrategy live at #LTW: Future of Compute Review w/ world-leading AI expert, Prof. @ZoubinGhahrama1 👏 /2

🚗@DCMS Sec @NadineDorries arrived at #LTW soon after in a @wayve_ai self-driving car!🤖 A startup I'm proud to have helped in a small way through @firstminutecap

DCMS Stats: 20,000 people here for #LTW & £12.4bn raised by UK startups so far this year, more than whole of 2020!/3

@tezos's @breitwoman & @Klarna's @klarnaseb talked how to steer organisations for greatest impact in a Tech For Good panel - great insight.

+Enjoyed hearing @taavet (@Wise) & @waldec (@boltapp) on their coding school - a model we were inspired by when starting @01_Founders!🙌 /4

It was queues out of the doors and standing room only for @dr_aliparsa at @FFxHealthTech as he broke down the verticalisation of healthcare🏥🩺 /5

@Founders_Forum's very own @riya_pabari (@use_framework) spoke eloquently on finding #balance during the entrepreneur's journey with @nikkiwicks (@thebodycoach).

Riya's write up here 👉 linkedin.com/posts/riyapaba… /6

@Founders_Forum @riya_pabari @use_framework @nikkiwicks @thebodycoach And congratulations to @EQLHER on an impressive day... @FinancialTimes feature for #InspiringFifty celebrating the top fifty women in European tech + networking drinks + dinner. Well done team @elkagoldstein & Rhianna Miller💪 /7

We say plenty of exciting #demos throughout the day ... 🤖 /8

🍎👩‍💻 @priyalakhani packed out the very top of @QEIICentre for an #EdTech address and panel... a sector that's raised 300% investment vs. pre-pandemic! (and, of which, the UK has 3x as many EdTech companies as the rest of Europe... h/t Stephanie Leung, @localglobevc) 📚 /9

🙋‍♀️👩‍🔬@mahonalex (@Channel4), @Erin_Platts, Natasha Pope & Lisa Shu discussed The Investment Gap and, crucially, how tech as a sector can take collaborative action to overcome #bias during a brilliant @EQLHER session /10

🔥Another busy room for Journey To Tech IPO Success w/ @gordon_sanghera (@oxfordnanopore), MP @CPhilpOfficial & Charlie Walker... fave quote: "Go for one thing & do it brilliantly. Be a searing white hot heat, and ignore everything else!", Dr. Gordon Sanghera on not settling! /11

⏰💸I made my way across town to close my day with @firstminutecap's Ancillary Events Day, where fmc hosted an array of impactful sessions for their portfolio startups & founders. I look forward to the main Investor Summit with LPs tomorrow! /12

☀️ I'll close by thanking our array of speakers & experts who kept the @QEIICentre packed from start to close despite the #GreatBritishSummer's best efforts during a beautiful London summer's day 🌇

Catch you tomorrow for @ClimateTech_, @InformaTechHQ's GLIS +much more!🥳
/End

and @laurajstebbing featured in photo!👏