UK Tech Startups Pitch To Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales

Tech startups will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales in London later this year.

During December’s Tech Entrepreneurs Week hundreds of tech entrepreneurs will get the chance to present ideas to Wales and his judging panel Dragons’ Den style and get their hands on a £50,000 investment.

Venture capital firms will also be meeting with entrepreneurs at the event, which is the first of its kind in the UK according to the organisers.

“I’m delighted to be asked to join Tech Entrepreneurs Week as Head of Jury,” said Wales (pictured). “I look forward to participating in the discovery of the next great technology companies.”

Europe falling behind in tech

Behind the event is tech entrepreneur Martin Warner, co-founder of business networking site Talkbiznow, who will also be conducting a keynote interview with Wales.

He says the tech startup scene in Europe is lagging behind Silicon Valley but London is in a position to turn that around and place itself at the heart of Europe’s techstartup community.

“London is beginning to mount a serious challenge to the Valley’s hegemony. Jimmy Wales’ attendance is indicative of how London is increasingly viewed as a great city in which to launch a technology business,” he said.

“Tech Entrepreneurs Week is designed to fuel London’s emergence as the European centre of innovation and tech entrepreneurship.”

Attendees will be able to meet with some of Europe’s top venture capital companies through various networking events and there will also be a series of workshops and seminars providing feedback, skills, key insights and networking opportunities to develop their businesses.

Tech Entrepreneurs Week will be held at the Dorchester Hotel on Mayfair’s Park Lane 5–9 December 2011.

Meanwhile, eWEEK Europe UK reported last month that Mayor of London Boris Johnson will speak at Digital London, an event designed to promote London as the digital capital of Europe, in March 2012.

Digital London is intended to build up London’s tech credibility during the Olympic year by adding lustre to Tech City, the East London area often referred to as “Silicon Roundabout“ and pegged by Johnson and Prime Minister David Cameron to be part of London’s Olympics legacy.