Global tech festival Business Rocks is back this spring with preparations underway for an even bigger event than last year.
Business Rocks is a tech, music and investment festival for tech enterprises, SMEs and start ups, and will run May 3 and 4 at Manchester Central. The event will include more than 150 international speakers who will share their expertise and inspire the industry. This will include eight, stages, a large festival hall expo, a new thought-leadership festival and a community 5000 attendees.
Last year’s event attracted more than 2000 delegates who came to: hear inspirational talks from speakers including Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple; participate in activities such as a Hackathon in support of Manchester of homeless population; and speak to investors and other financial experts on what they need to get their business off the ground.
Laura Earnshaw, founder of myHappymind, attended last year with an idea for her business which needed support from tech experts.
She said: “I had a dream to develop a tech enabled curriculum for primary schools focussed on developing resilience, balanced and happy minds, as a preventative solution to the huge mental health crisis faced by young people in the UK. The tech side of things was definitely something I needed help with and so went along to Business Rocks to immerse myself in the Manchester tech scene.”
myHappymind is a programme based in leading scientific research and positive psychology. The programme includes interactive classroom lessons as well as an app for parents so they can follow the learning journey and engage in a mental wellbeing dialogue with their children in the home. The gamified app also creates a powerful bridge between home and school allowing the children to continue with the healthy habits learnt at school, while at home.
At Business Rocks, Laura met CEO of Cheshire based Blue Beck, Pete Scott a leading gaming and app company. They developed a prototype for her and myHappymind will be launching the App developed by them this month. She was also introduced to representatives from NatWest who supported her in development of her business plan.
NatWest is supporting Business Rocks for the second year in a row. Heater Waters, Regional Enterprise Manager at NatWest, added: “We are delighted to once again support the Business Rocks festival and support the tech community in Manchester. Last year’s event showed just how simple it is for people like Laura to make connections to support their businesses and we look forward to seeing what we can do this year.”
Laura said: “By going to Business Rocks I was able to make connections with a range of people who could support my business ambitions. Technology is a huge sector and can be daunting if you don’t have the expertise but Business Rocks was a fantastic event in a relaxed environment that really helped me to develop my business plan and connect with amazing people who can make things happen.”
Event founder Jonny Cadden said: “Laura’s story is a testament to what Business Rocks can do for tech businesses. We know there is a huge tech community in the North of England that is continuing to grow at rapidly, and Business Rocks is committed to putting Manchester at the heart of this.
“We have a great line up for this year’s event We invite as many businesses, founders, leaders and influencers as possible to come to join our community and support the growth of the Northern tech industry via Business Rocks to the world.”
For more information about Business Rocks visit: www.business-rocks.com
