New Angel Network: Ground Floor Ventures Ltd.

One of the things about twitter is that you never know who you may meet. Somebody who has just started to follow me is Ground Floor Ventures Ltd.

Ground Floor Ventures is an angel network. On its website it describes itself as follows:

"Ground Floor Ventures is about bringing together entrepreneurs with investors and, unlike other existing 'angel networks', we choose not to charge entrepreneurs to come along and pitch. This means Ground Floor Ventures gets really interesting opportunities that the other events miss out on by pricing out the early stage entrepreneurs. We look for unique businesses which have the potential for serious growth and we aim to attract entrepreneurs looking for a relatively small amount of investment (typically under £30k) so that investors don't have to be 'squillionaires' to reach into their pockets and 'get in on the ground floor' of fabulous business opportunities."

Its next pitching event is on 7 February. If you want to learn more, contact Jack Symons on 07717 171345 or email him on jack@groundfloorventures.co.uk

Online IP Clinic

An IP clinic is a free consultation with an intellectual property professional such as a patent or trade mark agent or specialist lawyer. Sometimes you can also see some other professional like a business adviser or marketing consultant.

Since 2005 we have operated walk-in clinics in a number of towns and cities in the North of England with the help of local professionals. Our clinics have been hosted by friends such as Gumption and Bennett Brooks. Clients have been referred to us by other friends such as Bmedia and Business Link Yorkshire.

The North of England, however, is a big place and there is a limit to the number of people we can get to see. We also want to make sure that our clients see the right sort of professional. There is not much point is talking to a product design consultant about a complaint of copyright infringement or a barrister about funding. Also we have had enquiries from people as far apart as Buckinghamshire, Glasgow and South Wales.

So we have decided to put our clinics on line. Inventors and entrepreneurs can now get in touch with us by calling our roll free number, 0800 862 0055, or using our online form. Once they get in touch with us we contact an appropriate expert and ask him or her to give the client 30 minutes or so basic advice. It's all set out in the FAQ on our clinics website.

So what sort of enquiries can we deal with? The answer is: "All sorts." Just like other patent clinics we can introduce you to a patent or trade mark agent who can advise you on patenting or trade mark or design registration. But we also have

• barristers and solicitors who can tell you about enforcement, licensing, manufacturing and joint venture agreements
• engineers and product design consultants who can talk about prototyping and testing, and
• angels and community development finance institutions who can talk about funding.

So, whatever your industry, and whatever your position whether managing director, private inventor, academic or professional adviser, if you need a bit of help from your friends, give us a call.

Son of Business Link: Cable announces new business mentoring network

A further indication of what's hoping to replace Business Link emerged yesterday when Business Secretary Vice Cable announced plans for a new single network of mentoring providers. According to the Department's press release, there will be a single online gateway to mentoring from the summer of 2011.

In his speech Cable said

“The best people to advise new entrepreneurs and existing businesses are those who have already started and run successful companies. Mentoring is a very effective way of promoting start-ups, higher productivity and growth amongst established businesses, so I am delighted to announce this new network."

According to Business Matters, mentors will be offered tax breaks for their trouble but they will received no cash as such.

Resources for Inventors in the East Midlands

The East Midlands covers the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northanptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. According to Wikipedia the region's population is just under 4.2 million and its land area is 15,627 square kilometres. Major towns and cities include Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Lincoln and Northampton.

Regional Development

The East Midlands Regional Development Agency is the regional development agency for the East Midlands. Proposals for local enterprise partnerships have been accepted for Derby and Derbyshire and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and the South East Midlands.

Inventors Clubs

There does not appear to be an inventors' club in the East Midlands as yet. However, the Sheffield Inventors Group welcomes members from Derbyshire and the Birmingham and Black Country clubs are within comfortable driving distance of most of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Should inventors from the East Midlands wish to set up their own club, we should be glad to help. Call us on 0115 824 9090 or use our online contact form.

Clinics and Libraries

There are no PatLib libraries and hence no CIPA clinics in the East Midlands. However, each of the county and district council library authorities have good on-line and printed business information resources. If anybody from the East Midlands wants advice on any aspect of inventing he or she can contact our clinic using this form. We shall put him or her in touch with a local professional advisor.

Business Advice

Business Link East Midlands is at Innovation House, Riverside Park, Raynesway, Derby, DE21 7BF Tel: 0845 058 6644.

Funding

East Midlands Business Angels Ltd. is the local angel network. There are three community development finance institutions in the region:

• Derby Loans
• First Enterprise, and
• Leicester Moneyline.

Professional Advisers

So far we have one panellist in the East Midlands, the trade mark attorney Mr. Philip Cooper of VeryMark.

There are several well known firms of patent and trade mark attorneys as well as law firms that specialize in intellectual property in the region but we do not yet know any of them well enough to recommend to recommend to private inventors with limited budgets. We advise inventors to shop around and tell us what you find.

Further Information

We have a page on Inventors' Resources in the East Midlands on the Inventors Club website which we shall expand and update as and when we can. We have an Inventors Club group on Linkedinwhich covers developments affecting inventors throughout the UK which you can join. You can of course also join the Inventors Club if you want. The Membership Rules are here. There is no subscription but we may charge for special services such as showcasing inventions and access to professional services. Anyone who wishes to contact us should call us on

0115 824 9090 or use our online contact form

Resources for Inventors in the East of England

This is the second of my regional surveys of resources for inventors.

The East of England covers the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. According to Wikipedia the region has a population of 5.39 million in a land area of 19,120 square kilometres. It is home to one of the world's greatest research universities. According to the Intellectual Property Office there were 1,844 patent applications from the region in 2009 placing it third behind South East England and London with 2,777 and 2,752 respectively. Its regional development agency is the East of England Development Agency. Three local enterprise partnership proposals have been accepted from the East of England, namely Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Kent Greater Essex and East Sussex.

Inventors Clubs

I am aware of only one inventor's club in the region. That is CHASE (the Cambridge High Tech Association of Small Enterprises) in Cambridge. The Association meets on the first and third Tuesdays of most months, holds an annual dinner and an occasional conference. Further information can be obtained from Jeff Veil on 01223 721499. I would have expected to find inventors clubs in Bedford, Chelmsford, Colchester, Hatfield, Ipswich, Luton, Norwich and Southend. If inventors in any of those cities want us to help them set up an inventors club they should call us on 01603 343030 or contact us through this form.

Clinics and Libraries

There are no PatLib libraries and hence no CIPA clinics in the East of England. However, each of the county and district council library authorities have good on-line and printed business information resources. If anybody from the East of England wants advice on any aspect of inventing he or she can contact our clinic using this form. We shall put him or her in touch with a local professional advisor.

Business Advice

The HQ of the local Business Link is at Zenith Court in Hatfield. There are local Business Link offices in each of the major towns and cities of the region. Advice and mentoring is also available from Keith McCallum who holds the Business Doctors franchise for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

Funding

Eastern Capital Alliance is a local angel network. There are three community development finance institutions in the region:

• Foundation East in Bury St Edmunds; and
• NWES and WEETU in Norwich.

Professional Advisers

There are several well known firms of patent and trade mark attorneys as well as law firms that specialize in intellectual property in the region but we do not yet know any of them well enough to recommend to recommend to private inventors with limited budgets. We advise inventors to shop around and tell us what they find,

Further Information

We have a page on Inventors Resources in the East of England on the Inventors Club website which we shall expand and update as and when we can. We have an Inventors Club group on Linkedin which covers developments affecting inventors throughout the UK which you can join. You can of course also join the Inventors Club if you want. The Membership Rules are here. There is no subscription but we may charge for special services such as showcasing inventions and access to professional services. Anyone who wishes to contact us should call us on 01603 343030 or send us an email.

Venturefest: Innovation Showcase, 16 Feb 2011

One of the highlights of the Yorkshire business calendar over the last few years has been Venturefest Yorkshire. This is a one day conference and exhibition which takes place at York race course every February brings together Yorkshire business, professions, schools and universities. The next Venturefest takes place on 16 February

One of the best events of the day is the Innovation Showcase. This is an opportunity for up to 30 young high growth companies to compete for a prize worth at least £10,000. Among the advantages of participating in the showcase are a stand worth over £400 and opportunities to meet investors, professional advisers, senior industry specialists and other like minded entrepreneurs,

The business must be in Yorkshire. It must be less than 36 months old. And it must be involved in science, technology or innovation. Application forms can be downloaded here. Further information can be obtained from Anne Salisbury on 07881 505428.