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Tech startups wanted as Pitch@Palace heads to Sunderland

Pitch@Palace, the The Duke of York-led initiative to back entrepreneurial ideas, is heading to Sunderland this month, giving the region’s tech startups a chance to pitch their ideas to investors.

North East tech companies are invited to apply to showcase their innovations and ideas, where twenty firms will be selected to pitch to an invited audience of judges at Sunderland Software Centre on January 18.

During the event, the judges, guided by an audience vote via a dedicated app, will select who then progress to Pitch@Palace Boot Camp, where they’ll receive business support, investment advice and pitch development.

Finalists will then have the opportunity to network and pitch at the main Pitch@Palace event, held at St James’s Palace on Tuesday 25 April, 2017.

In less than three years Pitch@Palace has helped over 247 businesses grow, with some now enjoying huge global success.

The initiative has received support from global entrepreneurs such as World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners Lee, Peter Jones from Dragon’s Den and chef Heston Blumenthal.

The theme for Pitch@Palace 7.0 is ‘human tech’, and companies who have created or are developing solutions in Artificial Intelligence, Education Technology, Health Tech and Robotics amongst other categories invited to apply.

The Duke of York said: “Supporting a culture of Entrepreneurship in the UK is vital to our future prosperity, and I am looking forward to bringing Pitch@Palace On Tour to Sunderland.”

Billy Webber, Chief Operating Officer at Sunderland Software City, the organisation enabling the growth of the technology sector in the North East, said: “We are delighted to be hosting the Pitch@Palace On Tour Sunderland in January.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for tech companies at all stages to pitch their innovations to a global audience of influencers who can help take their business to the next level.

“We look forward to welcoming the Duke of York, judges and audience to the Sunderland Software Centre and celebrating the breadth and depth of the world-class technology sector we have here in the North East.”

Sunderland Software City are also inviting local independent food and drink entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their produce during the event.