IP & SME - Scaling-Up

Stock Exchange

Author Gren  Licence Public Domain  Source Wikimedia Commons

Jane Lambert

On 26 April of every year, a worldwide festival of creativity and innovation takes place to celebrate the anniversary of the implementation of the convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization. For the last three years, the Menai Science Park has contributed to the festival by holding a seminar on its annual theme.

This year's theme was IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market and the theme park held a very successful webinar on that topic on 26 April 2021 (see Menai Science Park's Contribution to World IP Day 2021 25 April 2021).  In that article I wrote:

"If this webinar is successful we hope to hold subsequent ones on scaling up the business covering angel and private equity investment and Stock Exchange flotation later in the year ..."

In view of the webinar's success,  Emily Roberts is planning a similar seminar on scaling-up to take place on 11 Nov 2021.   

The first seminar focused on the funding that is available for new businesses in Wales during their early years.  Many of those businesses will fail but those that survive are likely to enjoy strong demand for their products and services.   Some of those businesses will wish to expand their capacity and exploit new opportunities.  Such expansion and exploitation will require equity investment.   Such investment can be provided by 

• wealthy individuals with experience of business and useful connections known as "business angels",
• private equity businesses specializing in investing in fast-growing new companies known as "venture capitalists" and 
• the Alternative Investment Market.  

Emily and I will invite an angel, venture capitalist and NOMAD (nominated advisor) to speak at the seminar.

As such investors will risk many thousands and sometimes millions of pounds, they will wish to make sure that their investment is secure.  They will require due diligence, sound legal agreements and full intellectual property protection.   We will arrange for those topics to be covered by an experienced commercial lawyer and a patent and trade mark attorney.   Everybody attending the webinar will be given links to further information on scaling-up.

The Eventbrite card will appear shortly.   In the meantime, anyone wishing to discuss this article or any of the topics mentioned in it should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.