It’s time to get out and get connected. Here’s our list of the best meetups, conferences and socials in the south-west – tailored for founders and startups.
Whether you’re hoping to build your knowledge or expand your network, this February is jam-packed with informative and enjoyable events.
Have we missed your meetup? Drop us an email and let us know.
1 Feb
Women’s Tech Hub – Free Three Friday
10.00 – 13.00
DeskLodge Ltd, 5th Floor, 1 Temple Way, Bristol, BS2 0BY
‘Women’s Tech Hub ~ Bristol meets every Friday morning at Desklodge Bristol, where they support us with free hot-desking for ten of our members. So if you are a woman working in the tech industry, or interested in working in tech, come and join us!’
Recurring event: also takes place on the 8th, 15th and 22nd of Feb.
4 Feb
Rebel Meetups – Young Entrepreneur Networking
18.30 – 21.00
The Square Club, 15 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HB
‘Our Rebel Meetups bring together young and ambitious individuals, below the age of 35, to help them start and grow remarkable businesses. Come along, meet like-minded people and grow your network to give you and your business the best start possible!’
Business Health Check Workshop with Rebecca Steer
16.00 – 18.00
The Square Club, 15 Berkeley Square, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1HB
‘This ‘Business Health Check’ workshop is a ‘must have’ session for all Creative & Digital business owners who want to have a new year health check of their business. The session will cover advice on Brexit implications, changes you should consider and an update on contractual implications for you, your customers and suppliers.’
5 Feb
First Tuesday Talks with SETsquared Bath
12.30 – 13.30
University of Bath Innovation Centre, Carpenter House, Broad Quay, Bath, BA1 1UD
‘Three lightning talks on entrepreneurship, funding, new tech and how to grow an amazing business.’ Speakers this session include Dr Michael Wright, Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Bath, Jonathan Knee from Avon Wealth Management, Oscar De Mello from CAMERA, and Fran Zuch of Bath Girl Geeks.
6 Feb
Crafting your elevator pitch and acknowledging your fear
18.00 – 20.00
DeskLodge House, Redcliffe Way, Bristol, BS1 6NL
‘Meet & Speak Clubs are a supportive space for women to take to their feet and find their voice. In this session we will be crafting our own 30-60 second elevator pitch (so called because it can be delivered between two floors in a lift), a succinct summary of our background and experience.’
The Business Brainstorm
19.00 – 21.00
Dom’s Coffee House, 23-25 St. Augustines Parade, Bristol, BS1 4UL
‘The Bristol Business Brainstorm is a group for entrepreneurs to meet up and talk through business ideas, challenges or anything else important. We aim to help you develop a refreshing perspective, gain some valuable insight and get inspired.’
How do you establish an effective product management team?
18.00 – 20.00
Ashfords LLC, Tower Wharf, Cheese Lane, Bristol, BS2 0JJ
‘Let’s explore the practicalities of establishing a good product management team with Jock Busuttil, in this follow-up to his excellent introductory discussion.’
Business Strategy for Start-Ups
10.00 – 12.00
Royal Oak House, Royal Oak Avenue, Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4GB
‘So you’ve started up a business but now you are stuck on how to strategise your next steps. This session is for you! We will help you identify and analyse the key ways in which you can invest your time, set your goals and plan your strategy.’
Sales for Businesses – #natwestboost
12.00 – 14.00
Natwest Entrepreneur Accelerator Hub, Trinity Quay, Avon Street, Bristol, BS2 0PT
‘Everybody knows that increasing your sales is vital to support the long term growth of a business, yet few people regard themselves as great salespeople and comfortable to do so. In this session, we will help share new skills and techniques that can support you to increase your sales, and support a sustainable future.’
7 Feb
Tech Chat: Networking & Beer
18.00 – 20.00
Bristol city centre – TBC
‘Monthly powwows with like-minded folk. A fun group that likes to get geeky about all kinds of tech and the industry as a whole.’
Simple tips, Smart Ideas to Help Grow Your Business
12.30 – 14.30
Zone, The Brew House, Tower Hill, Bristol, BS2 0EQ
‘Determined to […] help small ventures grow and develop resilience, Erica Wolfe-Murray is bringing her unique growth toolkit and new ways of working to share with Bristol Media members at a fast-paced session. Developing new value models, drawing on 50+ ways of earning revenues as well as identifying ways to own, harness and better exploit intellectual assets and IP, she will share some easy-to-implement ideas to help you evolve your business.’
SETsquared Business Quick-Start Course
09.15 – 17.00
SETsquared Boardroom, Engine Shed, Station Approach, Temple Meads, Bristol, BS1 6QH
‘This workshop gives attendees a sample of the most important workshops that will help their business make the most out of the first year of membership.’
7 Feb – 8 Feb
Digital Innovation Business Acceleration Hub 2-day growth workshop
All day (two days)
Doubletree Hilton Bristol City Centre, Redcliffe Way, Bristol, BS1 6NJ
‘Digital Innovation Business Acceleration Hub fully funded 2-day growth workshop. Open to all entrepreneurs or founders of early-stage technology ventures in the digital sector – specifically for businesses in health, well-being and creative media, as well as more experienced entrepreneurs launching a new product or service.’
12 Feb
Designing for productivity and happiness
18.45 – 20.45
Real Time Consultants, Whitefriars, First Floor, Lewins Mead, Bristol, BS1 2NT
‘Be-Team Director Ben Bacon will be taking us through the app and talking about how we can use technology and data to improve happiness and productivity. Ben has been involved in […] product development for an Olympic Gold medal winning Paralympian, and won the National Design Award in emergency medicine and eHealth Innovation (2014).’
Start-up Drinks Bristol
18.00 – 20.00
Engine Shed, Station Approach, Bristol, BS1 6QH
‘Start-Up Drinks Bristol [is] for all those interested in start-ups and entrepreneurship. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to meet other professionals, students and entrepreneurs from around Bristol, whether you are looking for a start-up partner, people to share ideas with, or just to meet and talk with like-minded people!’
13 Feb
Women Who Code Bristol
18.30 – 20.30
JUST EAT, 2nd Floor Broad Quay House, Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4DJ
‘Our community is for professional women in technology careers, including software engineers, developers, UX/UI designers, data scientists and more. Current and aspiring coders are welcome. Bring your laptop and a friend!’
South West Founders
19.00 – 21.00
‘South West Founders is a monthly meet-up for people based in the South-West who have been, are, or want to be tech start-up founders. The aim is to connect local entrepreneurs with co-founders and other like-minded people as well as tech investors to create an informal support network.’
20 Feb
Techie Brekkie 3: UX design for complex systems
08.30 – 09.15
‘This round table discussion will explore the tensions around UX Design in the development of complex systems. Bring your questions. Share your experiences. Enjoy some coffee and croissants.’
Legal Bootcamp for Tech Start-ups
All day
The Waterfront Meeting Rooms, Welsh Back, Bristol, BS1 4SB
‘We will be running the first in a series of free Legal Bootcamps aimed at Tech Start-ups, delivering all the information needed to run, grow, and transform your business, from start-up to scale-up.’
20 Feb
Digital Marketing Workshop – Reboot
19.00 – 21.00
Pollen Place Event Space, 15-17 Backfields Ln, Bristol, BS2 8QW
‘The Digital Marketing Workshop – Reboot is for everyone from complete novices to Digital Marketing Gurus. The event starts and finishes with networking.’
21 Feb
Intellectual Property Know-How for Small Businesses
09.00 – 12.30
Venue TBC – Bristol
‘Attend this interactive, informative (and even entertaining at times!) half-day workshop to start your IP education and take the steps needed to protect your business, and prepare you for export. On the day IP experts will lead you through several hands-on exercises specifically designed to educate and prepare you to fully protect your company from IP risk.’
26 Feb
CodeHub Bristol: WebDev101
10.00 – 13.00
Dom’s Coffee House, 23 – 25 St. Augustines Parade, Bristol, BS1 4UL
‘WebDev101 is a self-directed study group for everyone interested in improving their knowledge of any subject in the field of web development. As we are not instructor-led, you will only get out what you put into this group!’
Business Essentials for New Businesses
09.30 – 17.30
Bath and County Club, Queen’s Parade, Bath, BA1 2NJ
‘This one-day workshop is a must for those individuals who are close to, or who have recently started their business […] Please Note this workshop is restricted to businesses based in Bath and North East Somerset.’
27 Feb
Top Social Media Trends for 2019 + 5 Tips to Improve Your Brand
18.00 – 20.00
Pollen Place Event Space, 15-17 Backfields Ln, Bristol, BS2 8QW
‘This Meetup is for marketeers, business owners and founders who are looking to improve their skills or their businesses. In this talk, Keri will be revealing the top social media trends and tactics that will be shaping social media strategies in 2019.’
Bristol Women’s Business Club
11.30 – 14.00
Mercure Bristol Holland House Hotel and Spa, Redcliffe Parade East, Bristol, BS1 6SQ
‘Connect with successful, authentic women who are company directors over a healthy lunch with our top class business talks that will leave you inspired and raring to go. ‘
28 Feb
Focused Minds = Organisational Excellence
12.30 – 14.30
Foot Anstey, 2 Glass Wharf, Bristol, BS2 0FR
‘Discover why high performing organisations such as Google, Ogilvy and Lego use corporate based mindfulness to unlock the potential of their teams and achieve measurable improvements in the critical areas of performance and effectiveness, focus and attention, creativity and collaboration, personal resilience and stress management.’
Design/Build/Market #8: Building and launching an app
Our next meetup takes place on the 14th March 2019, and will be on the theme of creating an app.
Join our DBM meetup page for updates.
