Manchester Digital's Tech Leader Talks offers the opportunity for senior leaders in large-scale digital and tech businesses here in the North West to come together with other C-Level individuals to network, share best practices and make new connections. This event will be in the format of a breakfast networking session followed by a Q&A with Andy Barrow, Partner at Praetura Ventures, led by Justin Cohen, Senior Director of Venture at Slalom. The morning will include a light breakfast for all attendees, refreshments and an Industry Insight session.
Date: Thursday 30th March 2023
Time: 09:00 - 10:30
Venue: Manchester Digital, Tech Incubator, Manchester Technology Centre, Oxford Road, Manchester, M1 7ED
Free to attend
Trucks, tech stacks and term sheets: the North’s outlook through a CTO & investor’s eyes
Lancashire-born Andy Barrow has seen entire industries be born overnight. As 
CTO for the Manchester cloud computing giant ANS, he led a sophisticated technology team, which specialised in getting businesses ready for a new era of digital transformation. In his 15 years at ANS, up until the business’s sale to Inflexion Private Equity, Andy helped build one of the city’s biggest tech businesses, employing over 300 people at the time and inspiring countless others to scale from the North.
Today Andy is a Partner at Manchester's award-winning, British Business Investments-backed VC Praetura Ventures, which invests between £1m and £3m into cutting-edge tech and life sciences businesses, with major Northern successes such as Peak, XR Games and BankiFi making up the company’s 34-strong portfolio. With a clear instinct for what comes next in our ever-changing times, Andy has turned his attention to helping investors, early-stage businesses and the wider ecosystem navigate the future of emerging technology, including what to expect in sectors such as AI.
Justin Cohen
Justin leads the Slalom Ventures team which focuses on sourcing, supporting, and partnering with startups that develop enabling technologies that will power the next generation of Products and Services for Slalom’s customers.
Justin left Particle Physics to pursue his passion for technology, starting his first company in 1994. He has since founded or grown four tech companies, with two exits to strategic buyers and one most recently to Private Equity. He has worked on both sides of Venture Capital in the US and globally. He has strong experience building companies in highly competitive environments and brings that expertise to the early-stage startup communities around the world.
To reserve your place, book your ticket today. This event is aimed at senior leaders and decision makers only, please email kate.wilson@manchesterdigital.com if this does not apply to you but you would like to attend. We reserve the right to cancel any orders.
Please flag any special dietary or accessibility requirements to kate.wilson@manchesterdigital.com as soon as possible.
Please note, industrial action affecting 18 train companies is expected across Thursday 30th March. We would advise checking with the operating company if you are planning to travel to this event by train.
