Plexal

It’s a double celebration here at Plexal as we mark International Women's Day 2025 with the results of techUK’s National Security Committee elections... and we're ecstatic to reveal our very own Ruby Motabhoy, Plexal's Senior Lead for National Security, has been appointed Vice-Chair! 🎉 The National Security Committee comprises 23 techUK members, including five SME representatives and 18 larger companies. The Committee will champion industry's interests and drive a programme of activity between techUK and its stakeholders across the national security sector, addressing strategic concerns impacting the market. 🗣️ Commenting on her new post, Ruby says: “This is such incredible news as we celebrate International Women’s Day, thank you to everyone who supported me with the votes and encouragement to achieve committee membership and Vice-Chair status! "Through cross-sector collaboration with secure government partners, SMEs, academia and investors, my experience in the national security community spans technical research, proofs of concept and accelerator programmes alongside design and development of problem books, cyber principles and technology assurance strategies. “I'm excited to serve the National Security Committee with a forward-thinking, adaptable and public-minded approach, working with my colleagues to identify whole of society responses to today’s security issues." Congratulations Ruby! 🔥 📰 Read the full announcement from techUK here: https://lnkd.in/eP5aECRr #techUK | #UKtech | #AccelerateAction | #IWD2025 | #InternationalWomensDay | #nationalsecurity | #innovation | #collaboration | Andrew Roughan | Saj Huq | Monika Radclyffe | Jessica Moffatt-Owen | Bruno Sussat | Emma Marshall | Lydia Kerin | Stuart Nelson | Ria Khan | Alliah Rust | Charlotte West | Dr. Karim A. Bahou | Cameron Readman | Hamza H.

Just two weeks to go until we kick off our Coworking Week here at Plexal Stratford - don't miss your chance to get involved from Monday 24th to Friday 28th March and try working from Plexal for free for a whole week! PLUS take part in an exclusive office auction during Coworking Week where you could win one of two versatile office spaces. 🧑💻 Choose from private offices or shared coworking environments and join our diverse network of professionals, which includes people from early-stage startups, innovative scaleups, leading government organisations, universities and investors. 🤝 Come and experience a week of curated events designed for networking, team building and wellness, and join over 1,200 companies that are already part of our dynamic ecosystem. ⏰ What are you waiting for? Register today: https://lnkd.in/evntHNBa HERE EAST | Hub8 | Jennifer Underwood | Sophie Bacon | Bolu Bello (BB) 🧠 | Zoltan Kolozsvari | Monica Cheung | Claudia Rosen | Zen Terrelonge | Dan Moskovenko | #CoworkingWeek | #workspace | #collaboration | #innovation | #community | #networking

📍 We recently orchestrated an assembly at our Hub8 by Plexal MX Innovation Centre in Cheltenham, which opened last year in collaboration with Cheltenham Borough Council, building on the town’s position as a thriving UK cluster. 🗺️ And it’s that cluster component we explored at our event, Powering progress: How innovation clusters supercharge regional growth. Notably, we covered how alignment between initiatives in Cheltenham, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Milton Keynes can add significant momentum and benefit on a national scale. 🎤 Ruby Motabhoy, our Senior Lead for National Security, took to the stage to chair a panel exploring the role of local government and academic leaders to understand how they work to drive positive outcomes for the communities and clusters they serve and was joined by: 🗣️ Gareth Edmundson, Chief Executive at Cheltenham Borough Council 🗣️ Mike Johnson, Technology Strategy Advisor at Milton Keynes City Council 🗣️ Dion Williams, Director of Research, Enterprise & Innovation at Lancaster University 🗣️ Alex van Someren, Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security 📰 Get the insights from the group's conversation here https://lnkd.in/eEXnBPvS Golden Valley | HBD | Andrew Roughan | Saj Huq | Russell Gundry | Bruce Gregory | Ben Edginton-Thomas | Catherine Hadfield | Tom Marshall | Charlotte West | Francesca C. | Rosie C. | Daisy Culver | #Clusters | #Innovation | #Communities | #Government | #LocalGovernment | #BusinessGrowth

We're revamping the traditional demo day on Monday 10th March with a unique head-to-head spin Rocky would be proud of, transforming the Centre Stage at Plexal Stratford into a sporting arena worthy of a heavyweight bout as the Product Growth Pitch Battle takes place! 🥊 It's part of our Product Growth Programme with Barclays Eagle Labs and UK Government, which is designed to support organisations through their journey from MVP to ready-to-scale with product-market fit 🧩 Want to be part of the audience cheering our contenders on as the founder face-off takes place? Then book your tickets now to get the inside track on fresh innovations and be part of the action 🎟️ https://lnkd.in/e3iVGtyb Watch the video below to get a flavour of what to expect on the night! 🍿 Harry Baker | Emma Marshall | Charlotte West | Ria Khan | Mina Begum | Cameron Readman | Joe Howard | Monika Radclyffe | Saj Huq | Bodii | Taught by Humans | VidPlate | Legacy Compass | Doshi | BiostealthAI | Tom Howson | Natalia Pazzaglia | Dr Mark Cox | Orli | Rouya Mardani | HERE EAST | #ProductGrowth | #BusinessGrowth | #Entrepreneurship | #BusinessBuilding

It was awesome to have been in the room with the iconic Dannielle Lecointe yesterday as she facilitated an intimate workshop at Plexal 💡 Who's Dannielle? ⚡️The short answer: A BOSS who is a living demonstration that you can live the life and have the career you truly desire. 😮💨 The long answer: ↳ Visionary Coach ↳ Speaker ↳ Creative Director ↳ Dramaturg ↳ Award-Winning Choreographer ↳ Associate Artistic Director of ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company ↳ Podcast Host (Create & Elevate Podcast) This uniquely dynamic, serial entrepreneur, prides herself in showing women exactly how to find their voice and show up as their true authentic self. And that, she certainly did! She very quickly whipped me (personally) into shape by delving into re-programming the way we think, the power of desire and replacing motivation with inspiration. With enormous buckets of passion; I left challenged, triggered and truly humbled 🙃 Thanks so much for your words, vulnerability and time yesterday Dannielle, you are indeed a force to be reckoned with 💓

AI is transforming cybersecurity, but do you think it’s more of a threat or a defence? We're excited to host Plexal Cyber’s third LASR Lates, which will bring together experts for a panel discussion and networking event exploring the future of AI security, taking place on Wednesday, 5th March, from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. The panel will explore key issues such as AI trustworthiness and vulnerabilities, securing AI models and data against manipulation, and the dual role of AI in cybersecurity—both as a risk and a protective tool. Speakers include Holly Smith, Innovation Lead at Plexal, who will facilitate the discussion, along with Louise Cushnahan, Head of Innovation at CSIT (Queen's University Belfast), Dave Palmer, General Partner at Ten Eleven Ventures, and Darren Borland, Senior Software Engineer at Pytilia. Attendees can expect engaging and accessible discussions, an interactive audience Q&A via Slido, and the opportunity to connect with others over drinks after the panel. Don’t miss out—register now to secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/eey5c375 #AI #CyberSecurity #Networking #AITrust #TechEvents #AIinCyberSecurity #Cheltenham

📍 Next week we're bringing our AI security panel and networking event, LASR Lates, to Cheltenham, so keep your diary clear on Wednesday 5th March! 🎤 Holly Smith, Innovation Lead at Plexal, will guide the conversation on the night, joined by a panel including: 🗣️ Louise Cushnahan – Head of Innovation, CSIT (Queen's University Belfast) 🗣️ Dave Palmer – General Partner, Ten Eleven Ventures 🗣️ Darren Borland – Senior Software Engineer, Pytilia 🎟️ Taking place at the Hub8 MX Innovation Centre, get your tickets now for what is bound to be a lively discussion of AI as the next cyber security frontier: https://lnkd.in/eey5c375 Derya Atlas | Diane Gilbert | James Leeke | Winnie Yan | William Gurney | Bernadette M. | Stuart Nelson | Darren Lewis | Lisa Perkins | Daisy Culver | CyNam | HBD | Golden Valley | Cameron Carter | Bruce Gregory | #Cheltenham | #AI | #AISecurity | #Cyber | #CyberSecurity

🔔 Let's get ready to rumble! Our next Product Growth Pitch Battle with Barclays Eagle Labs will take place at Plexal Stratford on Monday 10th March from 4-7pm, so now is the time for you to register: https://lnkd.in/e3iVGtyb Join us as we mark the end of Product Growth Programme, bringing you an evening of networking, insights and energetic founder pitches, which will see leaders battling it out head-to-head style for the top spot 🥊 🌱 The Product Growth Programme is designed to support organisations through their journey from MVP to ready-to-scale. 💡 We've welcomed over 40 innovative startups offering digital/technology solutions over our most recent two cohorts, so there will be a wealth of talented, creative minds ready and waiting to meet you! Legacy Compass | Own Your Flair | JoltSynsor(Techstars '24) | FabriXAI | Kutana Technologies | Scoutifi | Blue Light Maps | Good With | Riskoa | Kounteq | Valinor Intelligence | SmartyPlants | Medical AI Solutions | Mercury Labs | myCopilot.ai | LuminSolutions | AugmentAero | Practest Global | adeus | BetterTrack | Powerfull (Techstars ‘24) | DeepInfinity.AI | NetZero Protocol | VoxMind | LevelUp ESG® | Prorizon | Flash Learningg | Aeva Health | JointEffort.io | RideScan | Be The Future IMMERS[ED] | Becon: The Smart Safety App | Persi | Venturithm Ltd | Route10 AI | JapaDemy | yarn | Pitchify | #ProductMarketFit | #PMF | #BusinessGrowth | #Startups | #Leadership | #Scaling |

🔮 As HERE EAST's next Future Talks event at Plexal Stratford approaches, it's interesting to hear Gavin Poole's take on what's coming – with our involvement as a partner within the Laboratory for AI Security Research (LASR) noted as "another major step in ensuring that AI development aligns with ethical standards and security measures." 📰 As announced yesterday, our LASR Validate programme is underway – which you can read about here: https://lnkd.in/gxFxgqkJ – to support innovators with their development of AI security products, fast-tracking access to industry and government partnership opportunities. LASR is a public-private initiative, which has collaboration embedded within, so let's work on advancing AI security for UK national security and economic prosperity together 🤝 https://lnkd.in/eX22bgXw Holly Smith | Derya Atlas | James Leeke | Diane Gilbert | #AI | #AISecurity | #ArtficialIntelligence | #Cyber | #CyberSecurity