Athena Festival is a groundbreaking new festival of female entrepreneurship, investment, inclusion and innovation bringing together founders and investors to drive growth and strong economic developments outside of London. Held at Nexus Leeds on 15 October 2024, we’ll be showcasing the brightest and best including an exciting opening keynote from Adah Parris.
Adah Parris is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, polymath, anti-disciplinary artist, tech futurist, and activist who is dedicated to inspiring individuals and organisations to embrace new ways of thinking and doing. She has a unique blend of expertise in multiple fields, including living systems, technologies (digital and ecological) and systems design. Her perspective on innovation, transformation, and technology is both empathetic and subversive, challenging the status quo and helping people to recognise and bridge the gap between their external stories and internal behaviours.
Jordan Dargue, co-founder of Lifted Ventures, the early-stage investment connector that is hosting the event, said: £250 billion of new value could be added to the British economy if women in the UK started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as men do. The Athena Festival is here to empower women to do just that by bringing them together with other ambitious and entrepreneurial women, building a strong network and sharing positive stories, brilliant pitches, and education opportunities to elevate female founders to go on to the biggest successes.’
Lifted Ventures is an investment connector, working to increase the flow of early-stage capital to female founders, and to promote the business benefits of backing women.
Helen Oldham, co-founder at Lifted Ventures said: ‘Athena is the Greek goddess associated with wisdom, bravery and resourcefulness. We’re going to be reflecting those attributes to empower female and diverse founders with knowledge through a series of workshops, talks, and lightning pitches across three tracks throughout the day.’
The full agenda for the day can be found below and we’ll be announcing our speakers over the coming weeks.
9.30am Welcome from Jordan Dargue and Helen Oldham with a video address from Tulip Siddiq MP
9.45am Keynote – Adah Parris – futurist, visionary artist, and activist who inspires transformative change
10.15am Fireside Chat – Be Braver, Be Your Own Hero
10.40am
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- Wisdom – Lift Off – Lightning Founder Pitches
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- Resourcefulness – A fast track to access to finance, sponsored by Gordons LLP
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- Courage – Marketing and Commercialisation – Setting the stage to enable and support commercial growth in your venture – sponsored by Zeal Marketing
11.55am Speed Networking with Vibrancy Hub
12.40pm Lunch
1.30pm The Lifted Project, Supported by Lloyds Bank – Pioneering High Growth Female Entrepreneurship across the regions
2.15pm
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- Wisdom – Lift Off – Lightning Founder Pitches
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- Resourcefulness – From Invisible to Invincible with Lisa Clifford
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- Courage – Sustainable success: Female founders leading ESG from day one – sponsored by Mills and Reeves
3.30pm Refreshments and networking
3.45pm Panel Discussion – ‘Moving from start-up to scale-up: unlocking growth through the art of saying no’ sponsored by Q5
4.30pm Lift Off – Pitch Finalists Award Ceremony
5.00pm Closing remarks followed by networking and refreshments sponsored by Amity Brew Co and Gordons LLP
We’re down to the very last few tickets for the Athena Festival. Don’t miss out! Get yours by visiting the link below.