The programme.

Registration

Welcome Address

Global Startup Battles

Brand Launch 1

Brand Launch 2

Who Owns the Breakthrough? Investing in Startups Built on Licensed Research

A promising invention may sit inside a university, a corporate lab or a jointly funded project. Investors and founders examine what the startup actually controls: commercial rights, improvements, access to facilities and the inventor’s continuing role. The discussion ends with a practical framework for deciding whether a licence supports an investable company.

Back the Same Founder Again? Making the Follow-On Investment Decision

An existing investment creates knowledge, obligations and emotional attachment. Should the next cheque support that company or a stronger new opportunity? Investors compare reserve policies, bridge requests, ownership targets and evidence of changed prospects. A worked allocation dilemma helps founders understand why past support does not automatically justify fresh capital.

When Your Customer Wants Equity: Should Investors Welcome the Deal?

A major customer offers capital alongside orders, distribution or technical access. The cheque can also bring exclusivity, information rights and dependence. Investors, founders and corporate buyers debate when the relationship strengthens the company and when it limits future customers or investors. The output is a practical set of negotiating priorities.

Lunch break and networking

Brand Launch 3

Brand Launch 4

Order Won, Payment Pending: Getting the Buyer to Accept Your Invoice

An MSME can deliver the work and still wait for payment because acceptance, documentation or internal buyer ownership is unclear. Suppliers and procurement leaders trace one order from purchase order to accepted invoice. They identify the preventable disputes, handoffs and evidence gaps that founders should resolve before production begins.

Own the Recipe, Own the Factory? Choosing How Your Brand Manufactures

A consumer brand can own its formulation without owning a factory. Founders compare contract production, shared facilities and in-house manufacturing through one product decision. The debate concentrates on process control, batch consistency, minimum orders, confidential know-how and switching suppliers, producing a practical basis for choosing what the brand must control itself.

Who Can Overrule the AI? Designing Human Control Into Business Workflows

An AI system that drafts a suggestion presents a different operating problem from one that changes a record or commits money. Product and operations leaders map permissions, review points, failure signals and recovery paths for a single workflow. The focus is deciding when automation may act and when a person must intervene.

When AI Becomes the Shopper: Is Your Product Catalogue Ready?

As shopping interfaces experiment with AI, brands need to decide whether their product information is accurate and structured enough to support them. A founder, commerce technologist and product-data operator examine one catalogue: attributes, variants, availability, regional terminology and unsupported claims. They define a bounded readiness experiment without assuming immediate sales gains.

When Your Brand Gets It Wrong: What Should the Founder Say?

A faulty batch, misleading claim or service failure can turn the founder’s next post into an operating decision. Founders and communications practitioners work through the first public response, customer updates and correction record. The emphasis is factual accountability and useful communication, including what to say before the investigation is complete.

Awards

Open networking