Challenge
Founders Forum had a vision to invite their community back to their flagship London event for a reunion in summer 2021 to celebrate their 15th year anniversary, after a year of postponements. The decision to host the event ahead of the full lift of the UK restrictions was a challenging but not impossible choice, and meant the Marble and the Founders Forum teams would have to assess every part of the experience to ensure it complied with the stage 3 Covid restrictions.
Gathering global tech entrepreneurs, CEOs and key investors from the tech ecosystem, Founders Forum orchestrates serendipity between new and old friends in an inspiring environment. The aim is to bring the best curated content which has a focus on the latest trends and innovation, all whilst driving a positive impact in the world of tech.
Key highlights:
- 504 attendees
- 133 speakers
- 39 sessions
- 6 stages
- 20+ hours of content
- 23 main event sponsors including Facebook, Samsung, Salesforce, Financial Times, Forbes
- 192m press reach
- 60k social media reach
Solution
A landmark occasion in the tech calendar, uniting secretaries of state, founders and CEOs with 20 hours of content across 6 stages. Founders Forum 2021 generated a 192m press reach, 60k social media reach, and over 100 thank you emails from guests with overwhelmingly positive feedback.
In order to meet the requirements of stage 3 Covid regulations for physical business events, all those on-site were tested prior to entry and certified via the Certific.io app, which was created by a member of the FF community, Dr Jack Kreindler. Sustainable branded masks were available for all attendees, and the layout of the event was created with social distancing in mind. Founders Forum also expanded the capabilities of their event app powered by VenuIQ to incorporate live streaming features from all six stages, so that anyone not visiting the event in person could watch at home.
Included in the agenda were a number of tech entrepreneurs, top tier CEOs, star investors, politicians and thought leaders, providing a roster of inspiring panel discussions and keynote sessions. Oliver Dowden MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport joined the introductory talks to kick off the day’s events. Also in attendance were: creator of the Oxford Vaccine, Sarah Gilbert; Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales; inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee; founder of Zoom, Eric Yuan; LinkedIn founder, Reid Hoffman – who beamed in virtually from LA!; and Gymshark mastermind Ben Francis.
The Innovation Hub promoted up and coming tech start-ups, exhibitors included Airly, Hydrow, Aircharge, Atlantic Productions, Touchlab, and Yoto. Samsung demonstrated their tech in interactive workshops, attendees could watch artist Sougwen Chung perform a live painting session with an AI robot, and Founder of Gravity Industries, Richard Browning, flew in to a panel discussion via jet pack.
An annual highlight in our calendar, we were thrilled to partner with Founders Forum for the fourth year to evolve their flagship London conference. Providing the platform to showcase the extraordinary talent in technology, with some of the leading minds joining us for a day that will inspire for many months to come.