Organisers of Silicon Valley Comes to United Kingdom

SVc2UK is a not-for-profit volunteer run event put together by the students, alumni, staff and supporters of the University of Cambridge who believe passionately in entrepreneurship and the value of creating links between the UK and Silicon Valley. Following are the partnering organisations that have contributed resources and volunteers to help bring this event together.

Cambridge University Entrepreneurs

Cambridge University Entrepreneurs was founded in 1999 by three people. Twelve years on, CU Entrepreneurs have evolved to being a key part of the University’s ecosystem for supporting and accelerating entrepreneurship and innovation.

CU Entrepreneurs run one of the most successful student-run business creation competitions in the world. Since 1999 we have awarded over £500k in prize money to more than 40 start-ups and have seen many of them develop into successful companies. These companies have contributed greatly to the local region and beyond, producing over 110 full time jobs. Collectively, CUE alumni companies have gone on to secure over £42 million pounds of investment.

Our goal is to promote and nurture entrepreneurship in Cambridge and beyond. However we do this in quite a unique way. Our business creation competition, along with the training, mentoring and networking events in support of it, take you from idea to business in under a year.

Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning

The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) Cambridge Judge Business School’s Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) aims to spread the spirit of enterprise to both the University of Cambridge community and to wider national and international audiences through the creation and delivery of a range of educational activities that inspire and build skills in the practise of Entrepreneurship. One of CfEL's key teaching values is that the best people to teach entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs. This philosophy has led to the Centre collaborating with a network of over 300 experienced entrepreneurs, innovators and other practitioners to provide relevant, credible and practical training.

The Centre has developed an enviable track record in the field of entrepreneurship education with a number of flagship programmes designed to provide skills for students, graduates, researchers and aspiring entrepreneurs from different backgrounds and at different stages of the entrepreneurial journey. These programmes are Enterprise Tuesday, ETECH Projects, Ignite, Enterprisers and the Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship.

Centre for Science and Policy

The Centre for Science and Policy helps the sciences and technology to serve society by promoting engagement between researchers and policy professionals. Specifically, we (1) provide policy professionals with access to the best academic thinking in engineering, science, computing, mathematics, the social sciences, law and philosophy, (2) provide training, support and opportunities for researchers to engage with policy makers and (3) provide an arena in which those interested in the policy implications of the sciences and technology, and the relationship between research expertise and public policy, can discuss and develop fresh ideas.

CUTEC

The Cambridge University Technology and Enterprise Club's mission is to enhance the entrepreneurial spirit amongst academics and students. We facilitate interaction between industry experts and students, thereby providing students with exposure to the wider business and fundraising communities. Investors and the industries that support them in turn gain access to the vibrant research and entrepreneurial communities at the University of Cambridge.

Our focal event is the annual Technology Ventures Conference (TVC). The TVC attracts high profile venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and angel investors from around the world and affords unmatched access to this community for student attendees. CUTEC also organizes workshops and speaker series events throughout the year, either independently or in collaboration with the other student technology and business societies and through the i-Teams program effectively supports entrepreneurship from idea to investment.

MBA Ventures

Cambridge MBA Ventures is guided under the principle that people are the most essential element for success. Thus our mission is simple: To create and nurture a robust network where Cambridge affiliates with a passion for Entrepreneurship can share the experience of their own ventures.

Cambridge MBA Ventures was born from a group of Cambridge MBA's coming together with a common interest in Entrepreneurship. We grew from our time in Cambridge through sharing our past experiences, expanding eachothers' networks, critiquing each others' future business plans and helping organise the annual Silicon Valley come to Cambridge conference. We grew together. Now as we venture forth post our time together in Cambridge, our aim is to create a sustainable space for current and future Cambridge affiliates to gather, share and draw upon the experience and expertise from a network of serial entrepreneurs, leading investors and venture capitalists from Silicon Fen to Silicon Valley to other parts of the world.

NACUE

The National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) is a fast-paced, grassroots organisation that stimulates university enterprise by supporting, connecting and representing enterprise societies, enterprising students and student entrepreneurs in Universities across the UK. Founded in 2008 by Victoria Lennox (former President of Oxford Entrepreneurs) during a meeting of 12 leading enterprise society presidents, and launched in May 2009, NACUE now engages over 70 university enterprise societies across the UK, supports over 85 universities in stimulating student-led activity and represents the view of over 40,000 enterprising students to policy makers in all levels of government, industry and education.

Recognised by Real Business Magazine as one of the primary 'Champions of Entrepreneurial Britain' and by the World Economic Forum as a global best practice in enterprise promotion, NACUE is a central point of contact for some of the most promising and enterprising graduates and some of the most exciting early-stage start-ups in the UK