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Session details
Regional Ecosystems That Work: Connecting Founders, Funders and Place Leaders (Opening Ceremony Day Two)
Strong regional ecosystems are built through trust, collaboration and clear leadership. This session explores how regions can connect founders, funders and place leaders more effectively to create better routes to support, capital and growth.
Strong regional ecosystems do not happen by accident. They are built through trust, shared ambition, visible leadership and practical collaboration between founders, funders, universities, corporates, local government and support organisations.
Across the UK, combined authorities and regional leaders are playing an increasingly important role in shaping the conditions for business growth. But the most successful ecosystems are not built by one organisation working alone. They are built when the right people connect around clear regional strengths, founder needs, investment opportunities and long-term economic priorities.
This session brings together key voices from combined authorities and regional innovation ecosystems to explore how places can work better together to support high-growth businesses, attract investment, retain talent and create stronger routes between founders, funders and markets.
Who should attend
This session is for combined authority and local authority leaders involved in economic growth, innovation, investment, skills or business support, as well as ecosystem builders working with startups, scaleups, universities, investors and corporate partners.
It will also be relevant for founders looking to access regional support, networks and funding; funders and investors engaging with high-growth businesses outside London; universities, accelerators, incubators and innovation hubs; business support organisations; professional services firms; corporates interested in regional innovation and supply chains; and policy, place and economic development professionals focused on practical ecosystem building.
Why it’s relevant
The UK has strong regional assets: ambitious founders, research-intensive universities, specialist clusters, sector strengths, corporate anchors, skilled workforces and active local leadership. Too often, however, these assets are fragmented.
Founders may not know where to find the right support. Investors may struggle to navigate regional deal flow. Public sector programmes may not always connect fully with private sector needs. Ecosystem builders may be doing valuable work, but without enough coordination, visibility or shared direction.
At a time when growth, productivity, innovation and investment are central priorities for regions across the UK, collaboration is no longer optional. It is essential. For combined authorities, this is about building ecosystems that deliver economic impact. For founders, it is about better access to the people, capital and opportunities they need to grow. For funders, it is about understanding where credible regional opportunities are emerging.
What you’ll take away
Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of what makes a regional ecosystem work, and the role combined authorities can play in supporting founders, funders and growth businesses.
The session will provide practical examples of collaboration between public sector, private sector, investors and ecosystem organisations, along with ideas for making regions easier for founders and investors to navigate.
You will also gain a stronger understanding of what founders need from regional ecosystems, what funders need to see before engaging more actively with regional opportunities, and how regions can improve connectivity between local strengths, business support, investment and market opportunities.
Hosts (1)
Gordon Bateman is a career company builder who has worked with the investment community for over three decades. Straight from university, he joined a small business that grew internationally and floated on the London Stock Exchange. During that time, he created and led the firm’s emerging-technology practice, supporting early-stage and high-growth companies around the world and partnering with venture capital and private equity investors at every stage. Those years inside the deal flow made one thing clear: the hardest constraint on growth is people. Gordon founded CRSI to solve that challenge, focusing on leadership, organisation design, hiring, retention and culture. Today, CRSI also works with many of the UK’s leading universities to help spin-outs achieve commercial traction and investment readiness. As investors sought stronger regional connections, Gordon founded Investor Ladder, now one of the UK’s largest informal investor networks, spanning angels, syndicates, venture capital, private equity and investment banks, engaging across the UK and internationally. In 2023, he founded ClimbUK, an international festival for business growth, innovation and investment. Built by operators for operators, Climb attracted nearly 2,000 people in its first year and continues to grow toward 3,000 delegates. To close the loop for founders, Gordon also leads Climb Ventures, providing investment-readiness support and connections to active funds. Gordon is known for building platforms that help others succeed, but his core craft remains unchanged: building businesses.
Speakers (3)
Ed was born and grew up in Leeds and started as Leeds City Council’s Chief Executive in January 2025. Ed has spent most of his career working in a number of central Civil Service Departments, including in the Financial Stability Unit of HM Treasury through the 2008 to 2009 financial crisis, and as Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister between 2014 and 2016. Most recently, Ed was Director for Cities and Local Growth, leading a joint unit shared between the Business and Communities Departments working on the government’s local economic growth priorities Between 2016 and 2022, Ed was Director of Strategy at the Wellcome Trust, where he led the creation of a new strategy to solve the urgent health challenges of infectious disease, mental health and the impact of climate change on health. He developed new global policy and strategic partnerships functions, and sponsored Wellcome’s new mental health research and equity, diversity and inclusion programmes.
Phil is the Director of Economy and Innovation at the North East Mayoral Combined Authority. He is responsible for all the work of the Combined Authority relating to economic growth, innovation, housing, culture, and sport. Prior to joining the Combined Authority, Phil was a senior civil servant at HM Treasury leading on creative industries, advanced manufacturing, business engagement and DCMS and DBT spending. Prior to this, Phil was the Director of Inclusive Economy and Skills for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
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