Tech Events by Venture Café Manchester

Venture Café Manchester's final Thursday Gathering before its two-week summer break. Whether you're an independent artist, designer, writer or innovator, The Art of Creating: Cultivating Your Creative Edge is built to help you sharpen your craft, discover vital support systems, and build meaningful networks within Manchester's creative and tech community. A relaxed, open evening of programming and connection at SISTER (the former Renold Building) on the Oxford Road Corridor — free and open to all.

Venture Cafe Manchester's weekly Thursday Gathering asks how we build a future where commercial success and community impact go hand in hand. Social value is no longer a CSR checkbox but a driver of funding, procurement and cross-sector partnership. As a neutral ecosystem convener, Venture Cafe brings together mission-driven founders, public-sector buyers, procurement leads and investors to break down silos and spark practical collaboration across Greater Manchester. Free, open and inclusive; at SISTER, Renold Building.

with Brian Wang (Programme Director, Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA)) · Dr Parsa Pirhady (Postdoctoral Researcher in Breast Cancer Prevention, University of Manchester / Nucleate) · Jacob Thompson (Chief Scientific Officer, ADDER-VAX Ltd) + 1 more

This week's Venture Café Thursday Gathering, delivered with ARIA, explores its Sculpting Innate Immunity Opportunity Space, bringing researchers, founders and innovators together to look at how world-leading biological research becomes breakthrough therapies and companies. The headline panel, 'Turning Complex Biology into Commercial Reality', features Brian Wang (Programme Director, ARIA), Dr Parsa Pirhady (University of Manchester / Nucleate), Jacob Thompson (CSO, ADDER-VAX) and Andrew Ruffler (Director, Venture Café Manchester), on the challenges of moving from the lab to the marketplace. Pizza, networking and 60-second lightning pitches throughout. Free, no registration required to attend.

Venture Café Manchester's weekly Thursday Gathering turns to the future of food, spotlighting Greater Manchester's growing wave of agricultural biotech and agtech pioneers. Four ventures — Bright Biotech, Gennate, Mushroom+ and SporeSense — showcase how they harness biology, data and engineering to tackle food security, sustainability and productivity, followed by discussion on how cutting-edge science becomes scalable ventures and how regional partnerships accelerate progress. Free, open and inclusive, welcoming researchers, entrepreneurs, growers, agronomists, investors and policymakers to a relaxed evening of showcases and connection at SISTER.

Venture Café Manchester's weekly Thursday Gathering at SISTER brings the region's innovation community together in an open, interactive format — workshops, peer learning and informal conversations that cut across sectors and disciplines. Founders, researchers, creatives and industry professionals come to exchange expertise, build connections and leave with fresh contacts and momentum. Free to attend and a dependable weekly anchor for Manchester's tech ecosystem.

A special summer edition of Venture Café's Thursday Gathering — the final Digital Thursday — exploring the technologies, ideas and people shaping the Intelligence Age. Supported by Future Worlds, the evening brings together researchers, founders, innovators and industry leaders to look at how AI is moving from the lab into the real world, celebrating the collaborations that built the region's digital ecosystem. Free and open to all. Powered by ARIA.

Venture Café's weekly Thursday Gathering turns to advanced manufacturing, exploring how innovations forged in motorsport — digital technologies, advanced materials, rapid prototyping and data-driven performance — are reshaping aerospace, healthcare, mobility and sustainable manufacturing. Free, open and a reliable weekly heartbeat for Manchester's innovation community. Powered by ARIA.

Venture Café Manchester turns its weekly Thursday Gathering into a cross-border special on scaling innovation between Ireland and Manchester. Expect founders, investors and ecosystem builders exploring how startups grow across borders, wrapped in Venture Café's signature open, free-to-attend networking. One of the best founder/investor rooms in the city on any given Thursday — and a distinctive international angle this week.

Venture Café's weekly Thursday Gathering at SISTER. This week's theme: Liveable Cities — Critiquing the Urban Renaissance, in partnership with the University of Salford and Amps. Architecture, planning, social policy and the design of the places we inhabit. Wider lens than the usual pure-tech evenings, but the room remains a cross-cut of founders, researchers and creative-tech people. Free, open, no need to be a member.

Venture Café Manchester's weekly Thursday Gathering at Sister's Renold Building. One of Manchester's most consistent open networking events — free, themed, and reliably well-attended. June 11 topic TBC — check venturecafemanchester.org for the week's focus.

Venture Café Manchester's weekly Thursday Gathering at Sister's Renold Building. Free to all, each session mixes structured content with open networking across founders, investors, researchers and creative tech people. June 4 topic TBC — check venturecafemanchester.org for the week's theme.

Venture Café's weekly Thursday Gathering at Sister, this week themed around fashion-tech and circular textiles. Talks and conversations on advanced materials, circular design and the founders building a less wasteful fashion stack. Free and open — Manchester's most consistent innovation networking night.

Venture Café Manchester partners with GM Business Growth Hub for a three-hour Thursday evening that refuses to flatten AI into hype. A headline session on contrasting perspectives on AI's future — opportunities and risks. Two practical workshops on agentic AI in Sales, Marketing and Finance. Ends with guidance on responsible organisational AI adoption. Free, with networking and drinks at SISTER on the University of Manchester's North Campus.

Venture Café Manchester's Thursday session explores the North's growing life sciences and health tech ecosystem, featuring early-stage biotech founder pitches in diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices, and genomics. Researchers, founders, and investors gather to explore what it takes to build Northern health innovation at scale.

Venture Café Manchester's Thursday Gathering lands squarely on Manchester Tech Week evening with a themed programme on regional innovation — what the North's model actually looks like, who's investing, and what the next three years need to look like. Weekly format, free, open to anyone.

Venture Café Manchester's weekly Thursday Gathering spotlights the cutting edge of neurotechnology — from brain-computer interfaces to cognitive wellness applications. Highlights emerging research, practical developments and collaboration opportunities across the neurotech and health innovation ecosystem.

Venture Café Manchester's weekly Thursday Gathering turns to climate innovation: carbon markets, climate capital and the investment landscape for sustainable tech ventures. Part of Venture Café's flagship Thursday Gathering series at SISTER in Manchester's innovation district.

with Dan Graf (Founder, EarthChain)

Venture Café Manchester's April Thursday Gathering asks: how prepared are we for the challenges that climate change is bringing? Panelists from Black Bull Biochar, Kita Insurance, and Carma.Earth explore climate resilience through a tech and innovation lens. Hosted by Dan Graf (EarthChain), partnered with Sustainable Ventures. Free, open, and a genuinely good room for anyone working at the intersection of technology and climate.

Venture Café Manchester's March session explores how AI and automation are reshaping scientific research and innovation — what's real, what's hype, and what it means for founders and technologists building at this intersection. SISTER at the Renold Building is one of Manchester's most dynamic innovation venues. The conversations here tend to go somewhere.