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Rising Stars 5.0 Judges
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the esteemed judges of Rising Stars 5.0 for their valuable contribution and unwavering dedication. They have made this year’s competition an overwhelming success.
Scroll down to view the full list of our judges.
City Winner Judges
Click here to view our City Winner Judges >
| First Name | Last Name | Role | Organisation |
| Alasdair | Gunn | Head of Business | Glasgow City Innovation District |
| Anthony | Rose | Founder & CEO | SeedLegals |
| Charlotte | Waugh | Enterprise and Innovation Programme Lead | University of Edinburgh |
| Chris | Trotter | Investment Manager | Clarendon Fund Management |
| Daniel | Evans | CEO | Birmingham Enterprise Community |
| David | Walters | Investment Director | River Capital |
| Deb | Hetherington | Head of Innovation | Bruntwood Sci |
| Drew | Currie | Director | Founder Institute – Birmingham |
| Eamon | Tuhami | Entrepreneur and Angel Investor | Hwyl Ventures |
| Emmi | Nicholl | Deal Sourcer | Cambridge Angels |
| Lauren | Couch | Managing Director | Growth Lending |
| Gail | Eastaugh | Programme Director | Areospace Cornwall |
| George | Mensah | Investor | Sun Valley Ventures |
| Heni | Songheur | Investment Manager | Puma Private Equity |
| John | Davies | Founder | Cyber Wales |
| Mariam | Crichton | CEO | 7Staya |
| Mark | Panay | Founder of an unconventional tech agency and much more | Simpleweb |
| Mat | Hunter | Co-CEO | PlusX |
| Matt | Hyde | Founder of FinTech Wales Awards | 121 Recruitment / FinTech Wales Awards |
| Mo | Aldalou | Entrepreneur Engagement Manager – NW | Tech Nation |
| Nicola | McNeely | Partner, Commercial Team and Head of Technology Sector | Harrison Clark Rickerby’s Solicitors |
| Sarah | Williams-Gardner | CEO | FinTech Wales |
| Shachar | Radin Shomrat | CMO | DeepCrawl |
| Simon | Baillie | CEO | Digital DNA |
| Subhash | Ghosh | Founder & CEO | Technoplat |
| Ben | Cooper | ||
| Christopher | Lascelles | ||
| Tayga | Baltacioglu | Founder/CEO | Debite |
| Fiona | Law | Potter Clarkson | |
| Freddie | Blackett | Founder | Patch |
| Rich | Britton | Founder | Rocket Studio |
| Simon | Kirby | Founder | Rocket Studio |
| Neil | Griffin | Innovation Specialist | Innovation Centre Knowldge Gateway |
| Faye | Holland | Founder | cofinitive |
| Kirsten | Masson | Innovation Specialist | St John’s Innovation Centre |
| Alice | Pickersgill | Exchange Enterprise City | |
| Ben | Ravilious | Founder | Leicester Startups |
| Hamish | Rutherford | Founder | Floe |
| Jo | York | CEO | Ignite |
| Chris | Gilman | Enterprise Manager | Durham Uni |
| Karen | O’Hanlon | Director Digital Tech | ONE Tech Hub |
| Leah | Thompson | Director | Enterprising Oxford |
| Oliver | Waters | Founder | Protospace |
| Kristina | Pereckaite | Managing Director | South East Angels |
| Akshay | Saswade | CEO | Percept Imagery |
| Sara | Osterholzer | CEO | Good Business Club |
| Tracey | Johnson | DMC / Barnsley Council | |
| Olivia | Chatten | University of York / The Guildhall | |
| Stuart | Clarke | Leeds Digital Festival | |
| Judith | Parry | Ambassador | Institute of Directors |
| Laura | Smith | Knowledge Transfer Manager – Digital Economy | Innovate UK KTN |
| Claire | Nixon | Director | Realtime Recruitment |
| Thea | Goodluck | ||
| Matt | Exley | ||
| Gino | Brancazio | ||
| Thanh | Quan-Nicholls | Innovation Manager | FutureSpace |
| Mbatang | Acha | MD | Oxford Seed Fund |
| Colin | Dart | Managing Director | SetSquared Exeter |
| Anthony | Story | Director | Silicon South |
| Adrian | Scales | Senior Investment Manager | Falmouth Lauchpad |
| Esme | Caufield | Alumni Lead | Tech Nation |
| Ian | Brookes | The Startup Factory |
Regional Winners Judges
Click here to view Regional Winners Judges >
| First Name | Last Name | Role | Organisation |
| Aimee | Skinner | Innovation Manager | Future Space |
| Alasdair | Gunn | Head of Business | Glasgow City Innovation District |
| Alistair | Cameron | Startacus Co-Founder | Startacus / Digital DNA |
| Anna-Lisa | Wesley | Partner | Sapphire & Steel |
| Anthony | Rose | Founder & CEO | SeedLegals |
| Antonio | Tombanane | MD | GB Recruitment |
| Charlotte | Waugh | Enterprise and Innovation Programme Lead | University of Edinburgh |
| Chris | Trotter | Investment Manager | Clarendon Fund Management |
| Daniel | Evans | CEO | Birmingham Enterprise Community |
| David | Walters | Digital Investment Manager | North Edge/MSIF |
| Deb | Hetherington | Head of Innovation | Bruntwood Sci |
| Drew | Currie | Director | Founder Institute – Birmingham |
| Eamon | Tuhami | Entrepreneur and Angel Investor | X8IQ |
| Emmi | Nicholl | Deal Sourcer | Cambridge Angels |
| Faye | McDonough | Principal | BOOST & CO |
| Gail | Eastaugh | Programme Director | Areospace Cornwall |
| Gareth | I. Jones | Founder | Town Square Spaces |
| Gary | Davidson | Investment Lead | Tech Nation |
| George | Mensah | Investor | The Angel Co-Fund |
| Heni | Songheur | Investment Manager | Puma Private Equity |
| Jane | Holt | Business Development Director | University of Southampton Science Park |
| Janice | Cunningham | Ecosystem Development Manager | University of Strathclyde |
| John | Davies | Founder | Cyber Wales |
| Kate | Zatland | Founder | Forme Partners |
| Kate Patton | Patton | Entrepreneur Engagement Manager – NE | Tech Nation |
| Liam | Ward | Head of Programmes and Upscale Programme Lead | Tech Nation |
| Linda | Smith | CEO & Founder | Beta Den |
| Lorraine | Acheson | NI Manager | Innovate UK |
| Marek | Tokarski | Head of Durham Venture School | Durham Uni |
| Mariam | Crichton | Managing Director | 4Water Intelligence |
| Mark | Panay | Founder of an unconventional tech agency and much more | Simpleweb |
| Mark | McCartney | Leadership Coach | Spencer Stuart |
| Mark | John | Co-Founder/Director | Tramshed |
| Mat | Hunter | Co-CEO | PlusX |
| Matt | Hyde | Founder of FinTech Wales Awards | 121 Recruitment / FinTech Wales Awards |
| Miguel | Martinez | Co-Founder | Signal AI |
| Mike | Craddock | Founder & CEO | Kairos |
| Mo | Aldalou | Entrepreneur Engagement Manager – NW | Tech Nation |
| Nicola | McNeely | Partner, Commercial Team and Head of Technology Sector | Harrison Clark Rickerby’s Solicitors |
| Niki | Haggerty-James | Manager | Barcalys Eagle Labs |
| Ollie | Bone | VC | Evolution Equity Partners |
| Peter | Blake | Partner | Sapphire & Steel |
| Prof Dylan | Jones-Evans OBE | Assistant Pro Vice Chancellor (Enterprise) | Uni of South Wales |
| Sam | Beni | Applied AI Programme Lead | Tech Nation |
| Sarah | Williams-Gardner | CEO | FinTech Wales |
| Shachar | Radin Shomrat | CMO | DeepCrawl |
| Simon | Baillie | CEO | Digital DNA |
| Simon | Hill | Founder & CEO | Wazuko |
| Steve | Pette | Co-Founder | Ormeau Baths / Central Working |
| Subhash | Ghosh | Founder & CEO | Technoplat |
| Suf | Jogee | Founder Aquisition | Founders Factory |
Semi-Final Judges
Click here to view Semi-Final Judges >
| First Name | Last Name | Role | Organisation |
| Heather | Delaney | Managing Director/Founder | Gallium Ventures |
| Isabelle | O’Keefe | Principal | Sure Valley |
| Leke | Sholuade | Founder | Black Valley |
| Stuart | Clarke MBE | Director | Paceline |
| Marika | Beckford | Creative Technologists | Digital Shapers UK |
| Tracey | Johnson | Creative & Digital Industries Sector Specialist | Enterprising Barnsley |
| Louise | Harris | Co-founder | Tramshed Tech |
| Ed | Stevenson | Investor | SFC Capital |
| Paul | Excell | COO | Scaleup Group |
| Charlotte | Barttelot | Investor | MMC Ventures |
| Mariam | Crichton | CEO | 7Staya |
| Sophie | Hossack | Scaling Coach | Tech Nation |
Roundtable Judges
Click here to view our Roundtable Judges >
| First Name | Last Name | Role | Organisation |
| Ed | Prior | Vice President | GP Bullhound |
| Simon | Thorpe | Chair | Cambridge Angels |
| Douglas | Lloyd | Founder & CEO | Macademia |
| Andrew | Castell | Partner | Par Equity LLP |
| Jess | Jackson | Investment Manager | Praetura Ventures |
| Zandra | Moore | CEO, Co-founder | Panintelligence |
| Wes | Rashid | CEO, Founder | Accountancy Cloud |
| Lyubov | Guk | Founding Partner | Blue Lake |
Regional Partners
- Burns Sheehan
Find us on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jcl-burns-sheehan/
- Cofinitive
- Debite
- Mercia Asset Management
- Potter Clarkson
- Realtime Recruitment
Local Partners
- Barclays Eagle Labs
- Growth Platform
- Innovation Centre Knowledge Gateway
- SETSquared Exeter
- Tech East
- Tech South West
- The Bradfield Centre
- The Data Lab
- University of Oxford Research Services