Start-up CEO, business advisor and Vodafone’s ex-Global Head of Connected Car, David Levine is joining Enterprise City to share knowledge and provide support for the tech start-up community.

The experienced tech entrepreneur will be the ‘Entrepreneur In Residence’ for the Exchange start-up support scheme. As part of this new role, he will be on hand to offer a fresh perspective to the ambitious start-ups selected for the scheme and will prepare them in becoming investment-ready.

David is the founder and ex-CEO of DigitalBridge; a guided design platform for bathroom and kitchen retailers. He is also an experienced non-executive director and advisor to a number of exciting tech startups in the North West. He was formerly the Global Head of Connected Car at Vodafone and spent seven years working at the office of the CTO at Hewlett-Packard.

David said: “Despite my experiences, I have made countless mistakes during my time as an entrepreneur, which I still use now to inform decisions. I will be sharing this advice with the start-ups so they can understand how to avoid those rabbit hole decisions, often made in the early stages, that can come back to bite you.”

Exchange offers its tech business cohort access to the resources and infrastructure they need to succeed, including full use of the facilities at Department Bonded Warehouse, a network of like-minded entrepreneurs, mentoring from business experts and funding opportunities.

The 30 incoming member businesses are all promising early-stage tech start-ups, operating across EdTech, FinTech, e-commerce and more. They make up the second group on the scheme, following the success of last year’s cohort, which secured millions of pounds in funding between them.

As Entrepreneur in Residence, David wants to encourage the start-ups to learn from the ambition of their US counterparts, arguing that British firms tend to be more conservative and not give voice to real passions and global scale ambitions.

He said: “Never before has it been easier to start a business and have global impact. The pandemic means geographical issues are becoming a thing of the past, thanks to proven remote working capabilities, so it is exciting to see what is in store for Manchester’s next generation of tech innovators.

“The community in Department Bonded Warehouse, where Exchange is based, is incredible. You can feel the energy of ideas and the willingness of people to share and cheer each other on in the atmosphere. Having that strong support network is so important in the early days of business and I am looking forward to joining that. Being based there and having access to the great mix of creative, collaborative and quiet spaces will be invaluable to the Exchange entrepreneurs, as will the strong tech and business background and history of Manchester.”

Exchange member businesses include proptech firm, PropFolio, and analytics software, Gleensite, which have secured a partnership with Allied London, the developer that spearheads Exchange, as well as Kids Allowed founder’s new endeavour, My First Five Years.

To find out more about Enterprise City and the Exchange scheme, visit https://www.enterprisecityuk.com/.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here