The energy industry's growing relationship with tech will be a focus of entrepreneur Chris Neumann's talk at the forthcoming FutureX Startup Summit

 

INVESTMENT opportunities are still strong, despite the UK recession according to one venture capitalist. Chris Neumann, founder of Commonwealth Ventures, said those who work in technology were able to continue almost as normal, writes Kim McAllister.

“It’s not changing things, it’s a very odd thing to say,” he said.

“Those of us who work in tech are incredibly privileged we can kind of keep doing what we do. We were remote working long before Covid-19. What’s going to have an impact is the massive chasm – some industries have been decimated and a lot of people don’t recognise how bad it is because we are all at home and we don’t see it.”

Speaking ahead of Startup Summit on October 28 and 29, the Canadian entrepreneur-turned-investor said five years ago all he knew about Scotland was its tartan and whiskies. Following an introduction from a friend, he had a phone conversation (in a carpark) with Gillian Docherty, CEO of The Data Lab – Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI.

“I just thought who is this force of nature?” he laughed. “I have not seen anything like The Data Lab anywhere in the world.” Since the beginning of 2020, he has worked with the centre in an advisory capacity and has become familiar with the Scottish entrepreneurial ecosystem. As well as tech, he notes gaming, space and energy as growing sectors. 

“On a global scale places that are historically centres of oil and gas are becoming centres of new technology around energy, they have a captive audience of large companies,” he said.  He will be chairing a panel of investors at Startup Summit next week, from different industries with a wealth of experience. After a discussion Chris will open it up to questions from attendees.

It’s an area he’s comfortable with, having focused on early stage businesses for the past few years.

In early 2018 he founded Commonwealth Ventures to invest in companies outside the US, like the UK and Canada, who had the potential to easily adopt best practice standards from Silicon Valley into their own ecosystems.

“A number of Commonwealth countries are really similar in the stages of their ecosystem,” he said. “I was an entrepreneur for a number of years and then investor with “500 Startups” I spent a lot of time focusing on understanding the different stages of each of the systems.” 

The company offers a variety of programmes to introduce, educate and connect founders to Silicon Valley norms and companies. Chris spoke at the Startup Scotland 2019 event and is looking forward to being involved in 2020 albeit in a virtual format. I love the team at FutureX” he said. “The panel will discuss how to fundraise and think about it in a worldwide sense, without meeting in person.”

As a Canadian who has lived in the United States for years, he enjoys the similarities between his home country and Scotland, laughing that he thought Canadians were humble until he met so many Scots.  “Humility is a great thing – but dozens of countries are shouting about what they’re doing,” he pointed out.

It’s true that Scotland’s startup ecosystem must compete on a global stage, not just for a share of the market but also to attract the best talent.

“A person brings their network, that’s how ecosystems grow,” Chris said. “For a country the size of Scotland, it’s punching massively above its weight.”

The two day event will run in a virtual format this year under the Covid-19 restrictions and features an international roster of speakers from some companies which are household names. 

Twitter’s Director of Planning, Microsoft for Startups’ Managing Director, GoDaddy’s Regional President EMEA and founders of such companies as DePop and BrewDog all feature on the agenda.

Philanthropist and entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter will also appear to interview James Watt, founder of BrewDog.  In addition, three Scottish tech for good entrepreneurs have been selected for the Startup Summit Competition final. The entrants will pitch for a top prize worth over £60,000.

Judges from FutureX and Johnston Carmichael selected Dr Tayyaba Nafees (CyberShell Solutions), Phil Worms (Frog Systems) and Caroline McKenna (Social Good Connect) to progress from the semi-finals which took place virtually on September 30th. 

They represent applicants from across the country and industries spanning cybersecurity, mental health, and philanthropy.

CyberShell is a digital platform that provides solutions to ensure security for the software industry.

Frog Systems is a is a digital mental health and wellbeing company utilising video to communicate messages of hope and signpost support to those in need.
Social Good Connect is a digital search and match platform connecting employers and their employees to volunteering opportunities which positively impact the community.

The overall winner of the Startup Summit Competition will receive a fully funded place on FutureX's Silicon Valley Scale programme and a business support package worth over £60,000. This package includes business support from Johnston Carmichael, STV, FutureX, Purpose HR, and AAI EmployAbility.

  • Startup Summit, the international festival of entrepreneurship, will take place on 28th & 29th October 2020 . Join 1,000 attendees online and find everything you need to start, grow and thrive in business. Visit www.startup-summit.com