fDi Podcast

In the fifth episode of this bi-weekly series, co-hosts Alex Irwin-Hunt and Yessi Bello Perez explore the entrepreneurial landscape in the UK’s second largest city Birmingham.

Joining the show to provide their take on the start-up scene is Hilary Smyth-Allen, the executive lead at Supertech WM, a cross-sector partnership that promotes Birmingham and the West Midland region’s growing professional tech cluster. The second guest is Melissa Snover, the US-born founder and CEO of Rem3dy Heath Group, a Birmingham-based 3D printing start-up that produces personalised health solutions under the brands Nourished and Scripted.

With additional comments from Jof Walters, the co-founder of Million Labs, a ‘no-code’ company which helps new start-ups launch, this episode provides a deep dive into the key attributes of the Birmingham tech community and its potential to drive the post-Covid economic recovery.

Listeners can expect discussion of topics ranging from the cost advantages of starting a business in the West Midlands, the diversity of its talent pool, what’s needed from the UK government to keep up its momentum, and much, much more.

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In the fourth episode of this bi-weekly series, co-hosts Alex Irwin-Hunt and Yessi Bello Perez continue northward through the UK's emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems, exploring the start-up scene in Scotland's most populous city Glasgow.

Joining the show to provide their on-the-ground perspectives of the Glaswegian tech community are Dr. Olga Kozlova, the director of innovation and industry engagement at the University of Strathclyde, and Rebecca Pick, the founder and CEO of Glasgow-based security start-up Pick Protection.

Listeners can expect a detailed outline of the friendly rivalry between entrepreneurs in Glasgow and its neighbouring city Edinburgh, the strengths of the ecosystem in areas such as advanced manufacturing and health tech, how the start-up scene is being used to help inward investment and what's needed to propel the ecosystem to the next level.

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In the third episode of this new bi-weekly series, co-hosts Alex Irwin-Hunt and Yessi Bello Perez continue their exploration of the UK's rising start-up ecosystems, stopping off in West Yorkshire's largest city: Leeds.

Joining as guests are two prominent members of the Leeds community, Stuart Clarke, the director of Leeds Digital Festival, and Helen Oldham, the founding board director of NorthInvest. With supplementary comments from Eve Roodhouse at Leeds City Council, this episode provides an on-the-ground perspective of the Northern city's growing start-up scene and digital technology sector.

Listeners can expect a deep-dive into Leeds' strengths in areas such as medtech and fintech, the city's focus on diversity and inclusion, and how collaboration between Leeds and its neighbouring Northern cities will be crucial to the levelling up agenda.

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In the second episode of this new bi-weekly series, co-hosts Alex Irwin-Hunt and Yessi Bello Perez, begin their journey through the UK's rising start-up ecosystems by stopping off at the world-renowned university town of Cambridge.

Joining as guests are two active members of the Cambridge community, Tony Raven, the CEO of Cambridge Enterprise, and Leonie Mueck, the chief product officer at quantum computing start-up Riverlane. With some additional comments from Andrew Williamson, the managing director of venture capital fund Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), this episode gives a unique on-the ground perspective of what is driving the Cambridge start-up ecosystem.

Listeners can expect discussion ranging from the organic growth and historical context of Cambridge as an innovation hub to how the university has helped facilitate entrepreneurship, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and much much more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode of this new bi-weekly series, co-hosts Alex Irwin-Hunt and Yessi Bello Perez explore the concept of start-up ecosystems and their importance. Joining as inaugural guests are two maestros of London's start-up scene, Eileen Burbidge and Eric van der Kleij, to discuss the rise of ecosystems across the UK. 

This episode covers topics from best practices in ecosystem development, the growth of UK tech and the spotlight brought by the pandemic on diversity and inclusion, mental health and sustainability.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marc Israel of White & Case discusses the UK's new 'voluntary' powers on FDI intervention

On June 23rd, UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma announced that "the UK is open for investment, but not for exploitation", bringing in more powers to intervene in foreign dealmaking. This has given more oversight to businesses involved with the Covid-19 crisis, but also artificial intelligence, advanced materials and cryptographic authentication technology.

Marc Israel, a partner with law firm White & Case, connects from London to discuss for the fifth episode of Fortress FDI, our mini-series about rising investment scrutiny and protectionism.

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Germany is taking a lead in reforming its foreign investment review mechanism to protect sensitive sectors, as well as sensitive technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence that are at the heart of its cutting-edge industrial sector.

Daniel Wiedmann, an associated partner with law firm P+P Pöllath + Partners based, connects from Frankfurt for the fourth episode of Fortress FDI, our mini-series about rising investment scrutiny and protectionism.

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Following the new guidance issued by the European Commission in March, Italy upgraded its 'golden power' legislation accordingly. Rome now seems even willing to go as far as asking foreign investors in strategic assets to keep jobs and research & development activities within the country on the ground of public order and security. 

In the third episode of Fortress FDI, our mini-series on rising investment scrutiny and protectionism, Massimo Merola, a partner with Italian law firm Bonelli Erede, discusses the latest changes to Italy’s 'golden power' regime with podcast host Jacopo Dettoni.

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(Recorded in Spanish)

La zona franca de Barcelona ha hecho de la innovación y de la nueva economía unos de los ejes principales de su plan estratégico. La pandemia del Covid-19 solo ha acelerado esta transición, y el Consorci de la Zona Franca, la entidad pública que administra la zona desde el 1916, esta hoy mas que nunca comprometido en impulsar el futuro de la zona franca como un hub para start-ups y la creación de nuevos empleos y tecnología. En este contexto, el Consorci también ha transformado su típica agenda anual de eventos presenciales en un evento híbrido que tendrá lugar en Barcelona al principio de octubre - el Barcelona New Economy Week.

El delegado especial del estado en el Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, Pere Navarro Morera, nos cuenta del evento y de las nuevas perspectivas de la Zona Franca de Barcelona.

Producido en asociación con el Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona. 

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