Powering Green Innovation: Workshops for Startups

GreenTech Gathering has partnered with Sustainable Ventures, Europe’s leading climate tech ecosystem, to deliver four expert-led masterclasses. The collaboration, supported by Optimo and Bruntwood SciTech, aims to provide crucial support to early-stage green businesses in Leeds.

The workshops are part of GreenTech Gathering, a Leeds-based network launched by madeby.studio in 2023. What started as a small community of like-minded professionals has grown into a network of 550 businesses, investors, and industry experts passionate about sustainable innovation.

Through this collaboration with Sustainable Ventures, GreenTech Gathering is bringing specialist climate tech expertise to Leeds, providing startups with direct access to some of the best minds in the sector.

Spaces are limited to a maximum of 30 individuals per workshop. Here are the details of each one:

Workshop 1: Value Proposition & Branding with Sustainable Ventures

Date: Thurday 27th February 2025
Time: 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: Platform (Bruntwood SciTech), New Station Street, Leeds, LS1 4JB

This session is specifically designed to help early-stage climate tech businesses refine their value proposition and branding strategies.

Led by Deepesh Thobhani, Senior Venture Associate at Sustainable Ventures, and Emily Brown, Brand & UX Lead, the workshop will offer practical insights and hands-on exercises to help startups communicate their value clearly and distinguish themselves in the market. Participating companies will benefit from:

• The ability to articulate value propositions
• Learning techniques to better tailor your value proposition
• Exploring methods to distinguish your product or service from competitors
• Identifying areas for improvement to better target stakeholders
• Exploring how to improve your brand
• Understanding the importance of consistency in branding across all platforms and mediums

Sign up to this workshop here.

Workshop 2: Marketing & Investor Readiness with Sustainable Ventures

Date: Wednesday 5th March 2025
Time: 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: West Village (Bruntwood SciTech), Wellington St, Leeds, LS1 4LT

For many climate tech entrepreneurs, securing investment and effectively marketing their innovations are two of the biggest challenges when scaling a business.

This workshop is structured to provide practical, real-world guidance on how to build a strong brand presence while ensuring a business is fully prepared to attract and secure investment. Led by industry experts Deepesh Thobhani, Senior Venture Associate at Sustainable Ventures, and Stuart Ferguson, Investment Partner. Participating companies will benefit from:

• Understanding the role of marketing in building a brand
• Linking marketing strategy with key stakeholders
• Increased confidence in identifying the right type of private investment
• Understanding of due diligence processes
• Clarity on becoming “investor ready” and relevant investors

Sign up to this workshop here.

Workshop 3: Engaging Users & Increasing Revenue with madeby.studio

Date: Thurday 13th March 2025
Time: 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: Platform (Bruntwood SciTech), New Station Street, Leeds, LS1 4JB

As many companies in the green tech sector know, having an innovative product is just the beginning. The real challenge lies in engaging users effectively and converting that engagement into tangible revenue.

A well-designed website and seamless user experience can be the difference between a visitor who leaves and a customer who converts. Led by Sam Taylor, Creative Director at madeby.studio and Matt Wheeler, Digital Director at madeby.studio, this interactive session will focus on how startups can turn website visitors into engaged users and paying customers. Following participation in the Workshop, participating companies will benefit from:

• Gaining a clear strategy for designing high-converting, customer experiences
• Creating seamless user journeys that drive purchases and enquiries
• Building trust through design to increase engagement and reduce drop-offs
• Tracking, measuring, and optimising performance to boost leads and sales
• Improving accessibility to expand your customer reach
• Leveraging data tracking tools for smarter business decisions
• Using Conversion Rate Optimisation and A/B testing to refine your website and maximise Return on Investment

Sign up to this workshop here.

Workshop 4: Operations & Scaling Sustainably with Optimo & madeby.studio

Date: Wednesday 19th March 2025
Time: 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: West Village (Bruntwood SciTech), Wellington St, Leeds, LS1 4LT

The journey from a startup to a scalable enterprise hinges on more than just innovation.It needs a blend of efficient operations, strategic processes and sustainable growth practices. That’s why GreenTech Gathering has partnered with Optimo and madeby.studio to deliver a comprehensive workshop designed to empower green tech entrepreneurs with the tools to scale their businesses sustainably. Participating companies will benefit from:

• Understanding the core components of efficient business operations
• Optimising People, Process, Tech, and Information to scale sustainably
• Gaining practical skills in process mapping and tech evaluation
• Developing strategies to improve efficiency and accelerate growth
• Learning how to integrate automation and AI for smarter operations

Sign up to this workshop here.

The GreenTech Gathering Workshops project is being delivered by madeby.studio and is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). In West Yorkshire, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority leads the implementation of the fund as part of the Mayor’s ambition to make West Yorkshire the best place to work, learn and live.