📍 1 Triton Square, London NW1 3BF
HardTech Apéro returns to London to bring together the founders, investors and operators building the next generation of real-world technology.
In partnership with Kineo Finance, the evening focuses on the hard realities of scaling hardware businesses: raising the right capital, building production capability, navigating long sales cycles and getting breakthrough technologies into market.
Expect practical lessons from founders who have done it, insights from leading investors and lenders, lightning talks from ambitious startups and live product demos from some of the UK's most exciting hardtech companies.
Powered by Advanced Research + Invention Agency
In partnership with Kineo Finance
Our Thursday Gatherings are for you to make serendipitous connections and make things happen!
There will be meaningful networking opportunities throughout the night, accompanied by a selection of refreshments and activities:
Fun Zone
Get to know your fellow change-makers in a fun, interactive, and exciting way!
Take a quick break from changing the world and recharge by pinning your hometown on our giant map.
Conversation Corner
Looking to connect beyond the name tags?
Drop into our relaxed Conversation Corner, a cosy space where founders, ecosystem builders, and global thinkers come together to share stories, swap lessons, and innovate. Grab a drink, pull up a chair, and jump into the discussion.
Discover pioneering companies working across robotics, industrial automation, energy and climate tech, medtech, space tech, advanced manufacturing, AI-enabled hardware and infrastructure, and get a first look at the ideas and technologies moving these industries forward.
- Aed Energy - developing thermal batteries to make clean industrial heat cheaper than fossil fuels.
- Samudra Oceans - building the real-time data layer for the ocean economy.
- Blue Garage - a 38,000 sq ft hardware hub in South East London with shared workshops, labs and fabrication equipment.
- Fluoretiq - building rapid, consultation-room testing that helps clinicians move from symptoms to targeted treatment without waiting 3 days for a central laboratory result.
- Supersmith - a mobility technology company that develops and markets the 3Scooter, an innovative personal mobility device designed to overcome the safety and stigma issues associated with traditional mobility scooters.
- Vuala - a UK bio-robotics company building autonomous infrastructure for waste and energy.
Get hands-on and turn an everyday problem into a physical product prototype using LEGO!
Working individually or in small groups, you’ll identify a problem and design a simple LEGO prototype that could help solve it. But there’s a twist: halfway through the session, we’ll reveal that demand for your product has suddenly taken off!
You’ll then need to rethink your prototype with scale in mind. How could you redesign it to make it easier and more cost-effective to manufacture, ship and use at scale?
A fun, creative challenge that gets you thinking about design, problem-solving, prototyping and scaling ideas!
Welcome remarks from Venture Café London
Hardtech companies face challenges that software businesses rarely encounter: capital-intensive product development, manufacturing scale-up, certification, deployment and long enterprise sales cycles.
This panel brings together investors across the funding lifecycle alongside Kineo Finance to discuss what it really takes to scale a hardtech business, how financing needs evolve over time and why the right mix of equity, grants and non-dilutive capital is critical for growth.
Hear directly from hardtech founders as they share breakthroughs and real-world challenges behind the technologies they’re building.
- Supersmith - a mobility technology company that develops and markets the 3Scooter, an innovative personal mobility device designed to overcome the safety and stigma issues associated with traditional mobility scooters.
- Vuala - a UK bio-robotics company building autonomous infrastructure for waste and energy.
- Fluoretiq - building rapid, consultation-room testing that helps clinicians move from symptoms to targeted treatment without waiting 3 days for a central laboratory result.
- Winfall Energy - Cheaper, cleaner energy for flats.
- Untap Health - Onsite, fully automated wastewater monitoring.
Closing Remarks from Kineo Finance
Sina Ataherian is an investor focusing on early-stage opportunities in the UK across all sectors. He is currently particularly interested in university spinouts and deeptech (especially engineering and physical sciences), insurance tech, defence and advanced manufacturing. His previous experience includes working in startups (edtech and cybersecurity) and finance (emerging markets private equity). Sina studied engineering at Imperial College London and the University of Durham.
Chloe leads research and analysis at Zero Carbon Capital, investing in hard-science solutions tackling the biggest challenges of decarbonisation. A chemist by training with a PhD in Materials Chemistry from the University of Oxford, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Cambridge studying degradation mechanisms in lithium-ion batteries. Her investment experience includes Reclinker, Vema and Nuclear Turbines.
Based in UK, Dave is partner at FOV Ventures. Dave previously led HTC’s $100m Vive X fund in EMEA and was part of the investment team at Seedcamp (Fund III). Prior to investing, Dave founded several startups and was part of the founding team at SoundCloud.
Pankhuri has over 6 years of experience in corporate finance and advisory, where she supported companies through accelerated M&A's, debt advisory and financial strategies. Pankhuri is a Chartered Accountant (ACA), completing her certification in 2019 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Warwick.
At Kineo, Nakai backs hardtech ventures scaling breakthrough technologies into real-world businesses. With years of experience across venture finance, deeptech and innovation strategy, she brings an investor’s perspective and deep technical expertise. Her background includes roles at Deloitte Ventures and Octopus Investments. She also holds a PhD in Chemical Biology & Biotechnology from Imperial College London
Robert Trezona is Climate Partner at Kembara, with over 25 years’ experience in technology and investment. He co-founded Kiko Ventures and previously led cleantech at IP Group. His investment career has focused on hardware technologies for climate, driven by their potential to deliver substantial emissions reductions and real-world impact. His investment experience includes Ceres Power, Hinge Health, Hysata and OxCCU. He holds a PhD in materials science from Cambridge.
📍 1 Triton Square, London NW1 3BF
HardTech Apéro returns to London to bring together the founders, investors and operators building the next generation of real-world technology.
In partnership with Kineo Finance, the evening focuses on the hard realities of scaling hardware businesses: raising the right capital, building production capability, navigating long sales cycles and getting breakthrough technologies into market.
Expect practical lessons from founders who have done it, insights from leading investors and lenders, lightning talks from ambitious startups and live product demos from some of the UK's most exciting hardtech companies.
Powered by Advanced Research + Invention Agency
In partnership with Kineo Finance
Our Thursday Gatherings are for you to make serendipitous connections and make things happen!
There will be meaningful networking opportunities throughout the night, accompanied by a selection of refreshments and activities:
Fun Zone
Get to know your fellow change-makers in a fun, interactive, and exciting way!
Take a quick break from changing the world and recharge by pinning your hometown on our giant map.
Conversation Corner
Looking to connect beyond the name tags?
Drop into our relaxed Conversation Corner, a cosy space where founders, ecosystem builders, and global thinkers come together to share stories, swap lessons, and innovate. Grab a drink, pull up a chair, and jump into the discussion.
Discover pioneering companies working across robotics, industrial automation, energy and climate tech, medtech, space tech, advanced manufacturing, AI-enabled hardware and infrastructure, and get a first look at the ideas and technologies moving these industries forward.
- Aed Energy - developing thermal batteries to make clean industrial heat cheaper than fossil fuels.
- Samudra Oceans - building the real-time data layer for the ocean economy.
- Blue Garage - a 38,000 sq ft hardware hub in South East London with shared workshops, labs and fabrication equipment.
- Fluoretiq - building rapid, consultation-room testing that helps clinicians move from symptoms to targeted treatment without waiting 3 days for a central laboratory result.
- Supersmith - a mobility technology company that develops and markets the 3Scooter, an innovative personal mobility device designed to overcome the safety and stigma issues associated with traditional mobility scooters.
- Vuala - a UK bio-robotics company building autonomous infrastructure for waste and energy.
Get hands-on and turn an everyday problem into a physical product prototype using LEGO!
Working individually or in small groups, you’ll identify a problem and design a simple LEGO prototype that could help solve it. But there’s a twist: halfway through the session, we’ll reveal that demand for your product has suddenly taken off!
You’ll then need to rethink your prototype with scale in mind. How could you redesign it to make it easier and more cost-effective to manufacture, ship and use at scale?
A fun, creative challenge that gets you thinking about design, problem-solving, prototyping and scaling ideas!
Welcome remarks from Venture Café London
Hardtech companies face challenges that software businesses rarely encounter: capital-intensive product development, manufacturing scale-up, certification, deployment and long enterprise sales cycles.
This panel brings together investors across the funding lifecycle alongside Kineo Finance to discuss what it really takes to scale a hardtech business, how financing needs evolve over time and why the right mix of equity, grants and non-dilutive capital is critical for growth.
Hear directly from hardtech founders as they share breakthroughs and real-world challenges behind the technologies they’re building.
- Supersmith - a mobility technology company that develops and markets the 3Scooter, an innovative personal mobility device designed to overcome the safety and stigma issues associated with traditional mobility scooters.
- Vuala - a UK bio-robotics company building autonomous infrastructure for waste and energy.
- Fluoretiq - building rapid, consultation-room testing that helps clinicians move from symptoms to targeted treatment without waiting 3 days for a central laboratory result.
- Winfall Energy - Cheaper, cleaner energy for flats.
- Untap Health - Onsite, fully automated wastewater monitoring.
Closing Remarks from Kineo Finance
Sina Ataherian is an investor focusing on early-stage opportunities in the UK across all sectors. He is currently particularly interested in university spinouts and deeptech (especially engineering and physical sciences), insurance tech, defence and advanced manufacturing. His previous experience includes working in startups (edtech and cybersecurity) and finance (emerging markets private equity). Sina studied engineering at Imperial College London and the University of Durham.
Chloe leads research and analysis at Zero Carbon Capital, investing in hard-science solutions tackling the biggest challenges of decarbonisation. A chemist by training with a PhD in Materials Chemistry from the University of Oxford, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Cambridge studying degradation mechanisms in lithium-ion batteries. Her investment experience includes Reclinker, Vema and Nuclear Turbines.
Based in UK, Dave is partner at FOV Ventures. Dave previously led HTC’s $100m Vive X fund in EMEA and was part of the investment team at Seedcamp (Fund III). Prior to investing, Dave founded several startups and was part of the founding team at SoundCloud.
Pankhuri has over 6 years of experience in corporate finance and advisory, where she supported companies through accelerated M&A's, debt advisory and financial strategies. Pankhuri is a Chartered Accountant (ACA), completing her certification in 2019 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Warwick.
At Kineo, Nakai backs hardtech ventures scaling breakthrough technologies into real-world businesses. With years of experience across venture finance, deeptech and innovation strategy, she brings an investor’s perspective and deep technical expertise. Her background includes roles at Deloitte Ventures and Octopus Investments. She also holds a PhD in Chemical Biology & Biotechnology from Imperial College London
Robert Trezona is Climate Partner at Kembara, with over 25 years’ experience in technology and investment. He co-founded Kiko Ventures and previously led cleantech at IP Group. His investment career has focused on hardware technologies for climate, driven by their potential to deliver substantial emissions reductions and real-world impact. His investment experience includes Ceres Power, Hinge Health, Hysata and OxCCU. He holds a PhD in materials science from Cambridge.