The Business Funding Summit 2025 attracted a bumper attendance of decision-makers and finance experts to West Bromwich Albion’s football stadium as part of the West Midlands Business Festival.
Organisers Oxford Innovation Advice say they are delighted by the success of the March event, which threw the spotlight on exploring funding opportunities for growth and featured insights from businesses experienced in securing investment.
Jane Galsworthy, managing director of Oxford Innovation Advice, said: “We’re grateful to our panels of experts who shared their experience at the event, including great insights from Claire Stewart, of Prorizon, Andrew Rice, of Global NRG Advisory, Stephen Windsor at Mercia Asset Management and business finance specialist Connor McManus.”
“I know that a great number of connections were made between entrepreneurs and investors on the day and we look forward to seeing how these bear fruit in the months to come.”
A panel focused on debt finance also featured expert advice from Tina Salt, founder of Make Animals Important, Rebecca Blaymires of Watts Commercial Finance, Sinead Straker of BizBritain and Natwest’s David Greenough.
Among the highlights of the day was a Dragons’ Den-style pitching competition which was won by Matt Guest of Kingswinford-based Composty, which sells a range of fully compostable cleaning products and sponges.
Matt, who won a package of business support worth £3,000, said he was delighted to have won both a public vote and the backing of the judges at the event.
“I had to give a three-minute pitch followed by a three-minute question and answer session, which I must admit was a little nerve-wracking. We’ve been running the business for four years and so far have sold half a million sustainable sponges, but our ambition this year is to scale up and sell one million over the coming 12 months.”
Oxford Innovation Advice ran the event as part of its Business Growth West Midlands Investment Readiness Programme, delivered on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority.
The company has nearly four decades of experience in supporting more than 34,000 SME businesses to grow and raise finance and is a national leader in providing specialist business support programmes that nurture a culture of innovation, generating sustainable growth and economic prosperity.
The Business Growth West Midlands Investment Readiness programme has already been awarded an extension to continue delivering financial literacy and business support to high growth SMEs across the West Midlands until March 2026.