Start-ups based around AI voice agents, software for the healthcare industry and electric camping cookers all received insightful advice from their peers at the latest event of a network designed to help small tech companies learn from each other.
The University of Warwick Science Park’s Ignite Alumni Network met for the seventh time since its creation in 2023, and brought together several businesses and organisations that started life through the Science Park’s Ignite incubation and Business Ready support programmes.
The programme offers affordable space to innovative start-ups and scale-ups, as well as access to business mentors, specialists and networking events.
New member Rob Arnold, CTO of AI agent development firm Ascendea.AI, and its Sales and Marketing Director Saroj Bains, spoke about the firm looking to solve the problem of repetitive administration tasks faced by many SMEs – something that AI solutions such as voice agents could solve.
Rob opened up questions to the floor around the best ways to identify a core market for a generalist product similar to the company’s, which was enthusiastically answered by many of the businesspeople in attendance.
Rob said: “Having a product that can genuinely appeal to so many different sectors makes the marketing that little bit more difficult, as it’s easy to spread yourself too thin.
“I’m glad I put that problem to the audience because the answers I received were really insightful. I’m already lining up a few meetings with those who can help me.
“I’ve not long joined the Ignite alumni network, but it’s already proving to be incredibly useful for the growth of my start-up.”
The pair were followed by Nick Niziolomski, who detailed his path to getting involved in Ortus-iHealth, a software platform that allows doctors and patients to share data more easily and speed up many of the long processes involved in healthcare administration.
The final speaker was Nayden Yurukov of start-up PortalZero, which is developing an electric portable camping cooker that eliminates the need for portable gas or a bulky inverter. He spoke about challenges associated with attracting funding and creating prototypes.
Dirk Schaefer, Incubator Manager at the University of Warwick Science Park, said: “This latest meeting was particularly collaborative, with many of the audience sharing ideas with the speakers both during and after their presentations.
“This is exactly what the network was designed to do – bringing together like-minded businesses in various fields who can help solve each other’s issues.
“We had another excellent turnout for our seventh session, showing the continued strength of the Ignite network.
“We’re confident of growing the network even further as we host future events in 2026.”
The network is supported by Ignite Alumni sponsors DFA Law, PLMR, Edwards Chartered Accountants and Absolute Works. For more information on the Ignite and its alumni network, visit https://www.warwicksciencepark.co.uk/business-support/ignite-alumni-network/ or email [email protected].
