May your May be full of useful and enjoyable events. Here’s our list of the best meetups, conferences and socials in the South-west – tailored for entrepreneurs and startups.
Looking to test your code, find funding advice and get a growth plan together this month? Read on to find out how.
Have we missed your meetup? Drop us an email and let us know.
1 May
Casual Co-working
10.30 – 15.30
The Prince Street Social, 34-37 Prince St, Bristol, BS1 4PD
‘We are back at Prince Street Social which is pretty cosy and quiet during the day. Should be ideal for a productive work session. As always, we start with a little social time (15 mins or so) and then focus on our respective projects until lunch.’
Recurring event. Also takes place on:
- 2 May at Framework
- 8 May at Prince Street Social
- 15 May at Prince Street Social
- 16 May at Framework
- 22 May at Prince Street Social
- 29 May at Prince Street Social
- 30 May at Framework
NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator – Bristol Hub Tour
11.45 – 12.30
RBS Building, Trinity Quay, Avon Street, Bristol, BS2 0PT
‘NatWest has committed to helping UK businesses grow, scale and succeed through our dedicated Entrepreneur Accelerator Hubs […] On your tour you will get the chance to network [and] find out more about what the programme has to offer.’
2 May
Tech Chat: Networking & Beer
18.00 – 20.00
Kongs of King Street, 13-15 King St, Bristol, BS1 4EF
‘Monthly powwows with like-minded folk. A fun group that likes to get geeky about all kinds of tech and the industry as a whole.’
Reinventing Work: Bristol #10
18.00 – 20.00
Double Retail Ltd, 1 Brunswick Square, Bristol, BS2 8PE
‘Reinventing Work: Bristol meet on the first Thursday of the month to share, learn and practice new ways of working. Also to share snacks and a beer or soft drink. Our purpose (written in pencil) is to make Bristol a better place to work.’
Business Growth Strategy Forum
09.30 – 15.00
Coutts Office, Trinity Quay 2, Avon Street, Bristol, BS2 0PT
‘This seminar is aimed at owners and leaders of established businesses with 5 or more employees that want to accelerate their growth. […] Delegates will leave with a draft 3 year strategic growth plan which can be followed through with one to one advice and guidance.’
3 May
Women’s Tech Hub – Free Three Friday
10.00 – 13.00
DeskLodge Ltd, 5th Floor, 1 Temple Way, Bristol, BS2 0BY
‘Women’s Tech Hub ~ Bristol meets every Friday morning at Desklodge Bristol, where they support us with free hot-desking for ten of our members. So if you are a woman working in the tech industry, or interested in working in tech, come and join us!’
Recurring event. Also takes place on:
7 May
CodeHub Bristol: WebDev101
10.00 – 13.00
Dom’s Coffee House, 23 – 25 St. Augustines Parade, Bristol, BS1 4UL
‘WebDev101 is a self-directed study group for everyone interested in improving their knowledge of any subject in the field of web development. As we are not instructor-led, you will only get out what you put in to this group!’
Recurring event. Also takes place on:
First Tuesday TalksWith SETsquared Bath
12.30 – 13.30
University of Bath Innovation Centre, Carpenter House, Broad Quay, Bath, BA1 1UD
‘Come have a bite of lunch and hear from some great speakers at the Bath SETsquared Innovation Centre. Every month we’re going to be bringing you 3×10 min lightening talks on entrepreneurship, funding, new tech and how to grow an amazing business!’
8 May
South West Founders – May: Sizing the Market – Greville Commins, SETSquared
18.00 – 20.30
Framework, 35 King Street, Bristol, BS1 4DZ
‘The new format for SWF is an event in two parts. Firstly a brief talk or workshop session from a leading expert locally on something super useful to early-stage entrepreneurs. Secondly, we’ll have our more traditional peer-to-peer networking!’
Women Who Code Bristol: “Keep it small, do it right” – Cintamani Puddu
18.30 – 20.30
Location TBC
‘We will have two talks on the evening! Talk 1 outline: Iterative and incremental development in practice. The do and don’ts [by Cintamani Puddu]. Talk 2 outline: A button to pause time: how to live outside the clock [by Sal Freudenberg and Clare Sudbery].’
Equity Crowdfunding Clinic with Seedrs and IdeaSquares
09.00 – 15.00
Engine Shed, Temple Meads, Bristol, BS1 6QH
‘Are you looking to raise investment and want to know more about equity crowdfunding?Join Seedrs and IdeaSquares on the 8th of May for 1-1 clinic sessions at the Engine Shed in Bristol.’
9 May
Bristol Tech Women – Code and Chat (Like a Stitch and Bitch – but tech)
18.00 – 20.00
Framework, 35 King Street, Bristol, BS1 4DZ
‘Sometimes you need to blow off a little steam about what irks you about being a marginalised person in the tech world. Looking at inviting a varied selection of speakers to a ‘panel’ type event where they’ll talk about their experiences in tech as marginalised people […].’
Business Planning and Finance
10.00 – 16.00
Leigh Court, Pill Road, Abbots Leigh, BS8 3RA
‘Designed to support potential and new entrepreneurs, this in-depth workshop will help you to create and develop a robust, investment-ready business plan and financial forecast with an application for a Government Start-up Loan in mind.’
SETsquared Workshop: The challenges of turning a good idea into a successful product
14.00 – 16.00
SETsquared Boardroom, 2nd Floor, Station Approach, Temple Meads, Bristol, BS1 6QH
‘In this workshop we will draw on real world experience – we will explore the steps involved in developing a product and bringing it to market, and we will look at the practical challenges of building the business to make that happen.’
10 May
Finance basics for SMEs
10.00 – 12.00
Royal Oak House, Royal Oak Avenue, Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4GB
‘This masterclass focuses on the parts of finance that could prove useful to have in your toolkit. It runs through all the basic financial documents and how they are put together, then we look at some of the metrics that can help a business review their performance and financial health.’
13 May
Rebel Meetups – Young Entrepreneur Networking (Bristol)
18.30 – 21.00
The Square Club, 15 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HB
‘Our Rebel Meetups bring together young and ambitious individuals, below the age of 35, to help them start and grow remarkable businesses. Come along, meet like-minded people and grow your network to give you and your business the best start possible!’
14 May
Bath Girl Geek Dinners #7 – Mayden Academy Special
18.00 – 20.00
Mayden Academy, Widcombe Crescent, Bath, BA2 6AH
‘Today we will meet at Mayden Academy and hear from current cohort about their experiences and what they have learned so far. More details regarding speakers will be announced later.’
CodeHub Bristol – Hack Night
18.00 – 21.00
Framework, 35 King Street, Bristol, BS1 4DZ
‘This is a chance for developers in Bristol to get together in an informal social setting to work on projects, learn, and share with other developers.’
Recurring event. Also takes place on:
15 May
ProductTank Bristol #15 – World Product Day
18.00 – 21.00
Runway East, 1 Victoria St, Bristol, BS1 6AA
‘It’s that time of year again when we celebrate WORLD PRODUCT DAY! And we have an extra special / fun format that we are planning. […] We will all be doing 3 lightning workshops based around product management; expect fun, learning, post its and more fun’.
Digital Marketing Workshop – Reboot
19.00 – 21.00
Pollen Place Event Space, 15 Backfields Ln, Bristol, BS2 8QW
‘The Digital Marketing Workshop – Reboot is for everyone from complete novices to Digital Marketing Gurus. The events starts and finishes with networking and the agenda [and] typically [consists of] introductions, discussion, guest speaker, Q&A, networking.’
SETsquared UX/UI Forum: UX on a Budget for Early Stage Companies
12.00 – 13.00
SETsquared Boardroom, Engine Shed, Temple Meads, Bristol, BS1 6QH
‘You’re developing your MVP and there’s only a tiny handful of you to do 10,000 things – why should one of them be UX? I’m going to tell you why, and how, you can cheaply embed UX as a culture and concept early on in product development, which will save you time and money […].’
16 May
Techie Brekkie – Using video & animation to grow marketing reach & engagement
08.00 – 10.00
DeskLodge House, Redcliffe Way, Bristol, BS1 6NL
‘We’ve asked our friends at Sparkol, a Bristol based software company and creators of VideoScribe, to co-host our Techie Brekkie and show you how to quickly and easily create your own videos for work, education and social media.’
20 May
Rebel Meetups – Young Entrepreneur Networking (Bath)
18.30 – 21.00
The Bath Brew House, 14 James Street West, Bath, BA1 2BX
‘Our Rebel Meetups bring together young and ambitious individuals, below the age of 35, to help them start and grow remarkable businesses. Come along, meet like-minded people and grow your network to give you and your business the best start possible!’
21 May
South West Test #17
18.00 – 20.30
Just Eat, 2nd Floor Broad Quay House, Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4DJ
This time we’re at the wonderful JustEat, for another lovely event!! […] Although this is billed as a "Test" meet up it’s not just for Testers, it’s open to anyone who wants to come along to hear some amazing talks and interact with some lovely like-minded people.’
Connected Investing: Bristol
13.00 – 20.00
Engine Shed, Temple Meads, Bristol, BS1 6QH
‘With a huge shift in emphasis towards regional funding support, the Connected Investing event series will lift the lid on the latest initiatives open to both the investor and start-up communities.’
22 May
Bristol Scrum Master and Agile Coach: Coffee shop drop in
13.00 – 14.00
The Prince Street Social, 37-41 Prince St, Bristol, BS1 4PS
‘The coffee shop drop ins are an informal session where we can talk about issues effecting our roles in various businesses across Bristol. The have no set agenda and are simply for networking purposes.’
Bristol Women’s Business Club
11.30 – 14.00
Mercure Bristol Holland House Hotel and Spa, Redcliffe Parade East, Bristol, BS1 6SQ
‘Connect with successful, authentic women who are company directors over a healthy lunch with our top class business talks that will leave you inspired and raring to go.’
23 May
Bristol Girl Geek Dinners
18.30 – 21.00
Just Eat, 2nd Floor Broad Quay House, Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4DJ
Details TBC.
Balance: Startup Wellness / Health Tech Startups
18.00 – 21.00
Engine Shed, Temple Meads, Bristol, BS1 6QH
‘Startups Magazine, in collaboration with One HealthTech Bristol, invites you to an evening of talks and workshops designed to raise awareness and create a network of support for founder wellbeing, while shining a light on healthtech startups setting out to heal and help others.’
The Joy of Work; Keynote with Bruce Daisley, European VP of Twitter
12.30 – 14.30
Foot Anstey, 2 Glass Wharf, Bristol, BS2 0FR
‘In the course of a career at the helm of companies including Google, YouTube and Twitter, Bruce Daisley has become fascinated by culture of the workplace. Now, in The Joy of Work, he shares the fruits of his discoveries.’
24 May
Outset: Business Strategy for Start-Ups
10.00 – 11.30
Royal Oak House, Royal Oak Avenue, Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4GB
‘So you’ve started up a business but now you are a stuck on how to strategise your next steps. This session is for you! We will help you identify and analyse the key ways in which you can invest your time, set your goals and plan your strategy.’
29 May
Costing, Pricing and the Breakeven Point
10.00 – 12.00
Royal Oak House, Royal Oak Avenue, Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4GB
‘[…]We will explore the key elements of costing, pricing and the breakeven point and its application within your business. We will run through all that your business needs to know when exploring these core disciplines through both a range of activities and advisor delivery.’
30 May
Bristol User Testing & Social Night #5
19.00 – 21.00
The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer, 17-18 King St, Bristol, BS1 4EF
‘We all need feedback in order to make our products & services great, but it can sometimes be tough to get fast feedback. This meetup is designed to help everyone get some rapid user testing done, whilst doing a good bit of socialising & drinking!’
GetSet for Growth: Marketing Strategies for Growth
14.00 – 16.00
Royal Oak House, Royal Oak Avenue, Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4GB
‘This seminar focuses on the role of marketing in your business and the value of a robust marketing strategy. It covers the key challenges that increased competition can cause for your business and how to overcome them.’
About CookiesHQ
We’re a Bristol-based technical agency that helps founders turn ideas into digital apps. In the past seven years, we’ve helped dozens of startups and SaaS companies create, launch and improve their products.
We also run Design/Build/Market – a quarterly event for anyone involved in the creative and digital industries. We curate insightful events for our members and share news about other great tech events in south-west.
Join the D/B/M Meetup group to stay informed of upcoming events .
