17 September 2025 | Lighthouse Cinema | Newquay
The most founder-focused event on earth is coming back to Cornwall!
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What is Slush’D?
A global network of local events
Slush’D is a community-driven movement that aims to create and help founders locally that change the world. Slush’D is backed by Europe’s biggest tech startup event – Slush.
Slush operates as an international entrepreneurship platform, linking startups, investors, corporate leaders, and institutional representatives across the globe.
The most founder-focussed tech event on earth
Cornwall Slush’D brings an exciting and energising atmosphere with an emphasis on innovation, connectivity, and founder to founder insights. Its aim is to empower startup founders, enhancing their growth potential and fostering unity within the broader UK startup ecosystem.
Who is it for?
FOR STARTUP FOUNDERS & TEAMS
Entrepreneurs at any stage looking to scale and innovate.
For investors
Business Angels, Venture Capitalists, Corporate VCs, Family Offices and Limited Partners seeking new opportunities.
For Aspiring entrepreneurs
Students, recent graduates, career-switchers and any budding entrepreneur looking to launch their own venture.
For corporate partners
Business owners, C-Level execs, tech enthusiasts, experienced mentors, business support connectors and corporate partners.
Why Attend?
Spark an idea
Not sure where to start but ready to be your own boss? Join Cornwall Slush’D for an electrifying atmosphere and inspirational speakers, igniting the perfect environment to spark game-changing ideas.
Start your start-up!
Launch your entrepreneurial journey with Cornwall Sush’D. Fellow founders, industry leaders, future co-founders, investors and mentors are waiting to offer you opportunities to help your business thrive.
Make new connections
Experience the power of collaboration at Cornwall Slush’D, where visionaries and innovators unite, forging invaluable connections that have the potential to shape the future of your network and business.
Support your venture
Unlock the full potential of your business at Cornwall Slush’D. Meet mentors, investors and VCs and gain startup resources to help you navigate the path to success. The Tech Cornwall network are here to support you.
The Speakers
Keynote: Hephzi Pemberton
Serial Founder, Chair, Author, Angel Investor, Founder & Chair Equality Group
Hephzi Pemberton is an award-winning serial founder, author and angel investor.
Hephzi has built four ventures, including Honordex, a social impact intelligence platform, driving fairness, transparency and trust across the corporate and investment landscape. In 2018, Hephzi founded Equality Group, the tech-enabled Equality, Diversity and Inclusion consultancy that helps companies diversify their teams, build more inclusive cultures and develop data-led equality across industries.
In 2021, she published the Amazon bestseller, The Diversity Playbook, which is a practical guide to embedding inclusion and diversity across a business for long-term value creation.
Over the past decade, Hephzi has advised and invested in several start-up technology companies, with a focus on people, strategy and leadership.
Awards: Innovate UK, Inclusive Innovator 2024, Social Impact CEO, Women in GRC 2022-24; Most Influential Women in Tech, Computer Weekly 2020-2024; Women in Fintech Powerlist 2024, National Business Women’s Awards 2024; CEO of the Year.
Keynote: Shae O. Omonijo
Founder, Speaker & PhD Candidate at Harvard University
Shae O. Omonijo is a founder, speaker, and PhD candidate at Harvard University who helps entrepreneurs build sustainable, human-first startups in the age of AI. As the founder of Analog Social—named a 2025 semifinalist in the Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge—she draws on what she calls “analogue intelligence”: the art of critical thinking, authentic storytelling, and genuine human connection. She holds a BA from the University of Chicago, an MA and Teaching Certificate from Harvard, and is passionate about equipping mission-driven founders with the mindset and tools to thrive—burnout-free—in today’s fast-moving tech landscape.
Thor Mitchell
CPO Exec-in-Residence at Balderton Capital
Thor is the Executive In Residence for Product at London based VC firm Balderton Capital, providing advisory and coaching support on Product Management to startup founders and product leaders across the Balderton portfolio.
Thor has worked in the technology sector for over 30 years, initially as a support and software engineer, before moving into Product Management while at Google in 2010. He has built and led Product teams at early, growth, and scaled technology companies in the U.S., Australia, and Europe, including three years as Chief Product Officer at Crowdcube, and four years as a VP of Product at Miro through their pandemic fuelled years of hypergrowth.
In addition to his work supporting the startup community, Thor is also an Industry Advisor for the Säid Business School of the University of Oxford, a Product Advisor to the Royal Academy of Engineering, co-organiser of ProductTank Oxford, and a regular speaker on Product Management at meetups, conferences, and on podcasts.
The Schedule
Daytime
The Ultimate Tech Startup Event
Slush is Europe’s most distinguished tech startup event and is based in Helsinki, Finland. Cornwall Slush’D aims to inspire, inform and help you connect with other budding entrepreneurs, founders and visionaries whilst blowing your mind with some incredible speakers.
Download the Brella app to connect with attendees & exhibitors at Cornwall Slush’D
The Brella app is your tool for getting the most out of Cornwall Slush’D. As well as making business matches, use it to:
- Discover more about our exhibitors
- Schedule one-on-one meetings with attendees, startups, sponsors and exhibitors
- Explore online booths to learn about innovative products and services
Expand your network and explore new partnerships using Brella.
The event code is in your event welcome email.
Early
The Big Board Meeting (we’re going surfing)
Bookings opening soon…
09:00 – 18:00 Expo open!
It’s time to get Slush’d…
Explore the Venture Village!
Startups will be showcasing their tech-based products and services. Some are seeking investment and others are seeking product feedback, all of them are keen to connect with you!
Book meetings & Network
Connect with attendees in advance via our dedicated event app. Use our dedicated meeting area as a place to meet with your new connections over a coffee and a pastry.
09:30 – 12:00
Pitch Competition
10 startups, 3 judges, massive prizes
Watch 10 local tech founders pitch their business to an audience of fellow founders, investors and ecosystem support professionals for a chance to win a startup support package and tickets to Slush in Helsinki in November.
13:00 – 17:30
It’s talk time!
Throughout the afternoon we’re from speakers, panels and enjoy fireside chats with experienced founders and investors. Check out the line up, full schedule with timings will be released soon.
Keynote
Building Human-First Startups in the AI Age
Speaker: Shae O.Omonijo (Founder, speaker and PhD Candidate at Harvard University)
Join us for an inspiring fireside chat with Shae Omonijo – Harvard-educated historian and founder of Analog Social – as she shares how founders can thrive in the fast-moving AI era without burning out. Drawing on her experience building communities, designing critical thinking courses, and navigating the startup world as a nontechnical founder, Shae will explore why sustainable growth, authentic storytelling, and analogue human connection matter now more than ever. Discover how AI can be a leveller for underrepresented talent, and walk away with practical insights to build resilient, purpose-driven startups rooted in wellbeing, inclusivity and community.
Keynote
Purpose, Profit and People: What Really Drives Scale and Success
Speaker: Hephzi Pemberton (Award-winning serial founder, author and angel investor)
Join us for a candid fireside chat with Hephzi Pemberton – a multi-exited founder, angel investor and soon-to-be venture partner – as she shares lessons from over 15 years at the sharp end of building, scaling and selling businesses.
From founding her first business at 24, to pioneering digital education for female entrepreneurs in Africa, to identifying gaps in social impact investing, Hephzi’s journey shows what it takes to spot opportunity, create real value and know when to move on.
Key themes we’ll explore:
- Turning insight into action: how staying close to customers, networks and mentors reveals real market gaps.
- Reinvesting for growth: why disciplined profit reinvestment beats early extraction, and how to navigate these conversations with co-founders.
- Exiting well: recognising the signs it’s time to let go and how to structure exits that work for everyone.
- Backing underrepresented founders: what Hephzi looks for as an angel investor and why diverse teams matter.
- Staying true to your purpose: how asking what you really want can prevent burnout and build businesses with lasting impact.
Expect honest reflections, practical advice and thought-provoking discussion on what it really means to grow, exit and keep giving back to the next generation of founders.
Frequently Asked Questions
Speaker: Thor Mitchell (CPO Exec-in-Residence at Balderton Capital)
Over the last 30 years, Thor has worked in companies from the very large, like Google, to the very earliest stage. He’s lived and worked in the UK, Silicon Valley (twice), Australia, and Amsterdam. He’s seen economic booms, and sudden downturns. Lived through hypergrowth and crippling decline. And now works for one of Europe’s largest VC firms, advising the next generation of inspiring startups in all things Product Management.
As you can imagine, there are some questions he hears a lot. So join Thor, as he takes you on a whistlestop tour of everything he’s learned about how to survive and thrive in the tech sector, from the personal to the professional, through good times and bad, at home and abroad.
Panel: Let’s Hear it for the Funders
Hear from a panel of finance experts who will take you through the types of funding available to south-west entrepreneurs.
Panel: Success Stories from the Edge
Four local founders share their journey to entrepreneurship.
17:20 – 17:30: Daytime session ends
Closing remarks & pitch competition winner announcement!
Join us for a few thank you’d and to hear the announcement of the winner of the Cornwall Slush’D Pitch Competition 2025!
18:00 – 20:00: Demo Night
In partnership with Canopy Community
Watch 5 local founders give live demos of their products or services in front of a live audience, followed by an audience Q&A facilitated by Slido. The presentations are livestreamed in partnership with the international startup community Canopy Community, allowing for maximum exposure for our founders’ businesses. The audience can participate via Slido, submitting questions and voting on their favourite demo.
20:00 – 23:00: Afterparty
Wind down from an inspiring day at our official Cornwall Slush’D after party with a friendly crowd and some fun vibes at a local Newquay venue.
Evening
Join us for Demo Night with Canopy Community!
Join us for some evening refreshments and a vibrant Demo Night with Canopy Community. You’ll see 5 founders demo their technology to gain critical insight from a friendly audience that could help them shape their product roadmap.
18:00 – 20:00
Demo Night with Canopy Community
Watch 5 local founders give live demos of their products or services in front of a live audience, followed by an audience Q&A facilitated by Slido. The presentations are livestreamed in partnership with the international startup community Canopy Community, allowing for maximum exposure for our founders’ businesses. The audience can participate via Slido, submitting questions and voting on their favourite demo.
Demo Night exists to help Founders break the #1 reason for startup failure – that we build things no one wants or needs! We do this by sharing our ideas and being open to feedback, critical reflection and inspiration from a diverse audience.
Failure rates for startups and spin outs can peak as high as 90% in the first three years. There are persistent reasons for failures and the silver bullet is how well you listen to your customers & critical feedback around you. The genius of each Founder is in finding the right pathway from that feedback – not just following their own voice, but building through iterative collaboration and validation.
Demo Night is an open platform.
Our belief is that “Diversity is a strength” when it comes to bringing innovation to market and we are looking for you to bring your own reflections to others as part of this process, as well as providing an opportunity for you to gain from the experience of others.
Your daytime Cornwall Slush’D ticket includes free access to Demo Night.
The Startups
Pitch Competition Finalists
These 10 startups have gone through a review process and are finalists in our Cornwall Slush’D Pitch Competition!
They will pitch to win an exciting prize that includes tickets to Slush in Helsinki this November! The winner will be announced after the closing keynote.
Sponsors & Partners
The Organisers
Tech Cornwall
Organisers
Tech Cornwall is for the thinkers, the doers and the ones who are quietly (or loudly!) pioneering. We’re a non-profit membership group of individuals and businesses backing Cornwall’s tech scene. Each of us has the power to make a difference in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Our aim? To light up a dynamic tech community that’s full of energy, fresh ideas and expertise that inspire the next generation and be a force for good in our region.
Join Cornwall Slush’D
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