Welcome to the Digital Greenhouse’s celebration of 2023, another fast-paced, busy year for the team. It has been a pleasure to continue to work in partnership with a growing number of businesses and individuals.
We are pleased to share this annual update with you and hope it brings our work to life. You will hear from a wide range of people who have taken part in programmes. Events across 2023 have showcased and celebrated the breadth of innovation and entrepreneurship in the island, with tech, data and sustainability being top areas of focus. You will also see a snapshot of new ventures and entrepreneurs and their experiences on our programmes.
We are incredibly grateful to the Committee for Economic Development for their continued support and financial investment and to our Industry sponsors, who enable us to deliver programmes without cost to the public. We would like to thank all the contributors and everyone who has given their time and expertise to the Digital Greenhouse this year.
If you are looking to start a new business, build your digital skills or accelerate your business growth, visit digitalgreenhouse.gg and get in touch.
Click below to find out more from our partners and community.
Hard copies are available from the Digital Greenhouse
Guernsey Grown, Globally Focused
A top trend in the past 18 months has been a growth in the number of entrepreneurs looking to focus on a global market. At the Digital Greenhouse we offer a range of services, virtual, in-person, group and individual, all designed to be a one stop shop for entrepreneurs who want to take their business from an idea through to scaling to a global market.
2023 continued to see an upwards trend of individuals in Guernsey exploring the world of entrepreneurship, with over 4,000 people accessing our virtual resources on starting businesses in Guernsey. The team helped support over 300 entrepreneurs across the year from one to one support meetings, day bootcamps, expert mentoring and more.
Last year also saw the return of the Guernsey Venture Challenge which saw 8 business pitching for the £70,000 worth of prizes with C-Section UK and Petlearnia being awarded the join first prize and Stage Portal taking the third place. New for 2023, our first Showcase Guernsey in partnership with Blenheim Chalcot, where we took 10 local tech ventures to London to pitch at Scale Space in White City.
Fueling Innovation, Growing Networks
A large part of the Digital Greenhouse's activity is to bring together individuals, businesses and community groups into an exciting and diverse ecosystem, all based from our town hub. Across the last year we brought together over 1,200 people at events such as our Tech Festival Future Rewired, the week celebration of entrepreneurship, Global Entrepreneurship Week, our tech meet ups Tech Mex and many more.
2023 has seen continued need for established businesses to understand and leverage technology and the Digital Greenhouse has continued to champion and accelerate adoption. By far the biggest talking point around technology in 2023 was AI. Here at the Digital Greenhouse we worked with over 90 of Guernsey's business leaders to increase their understanding of the opportunities of AI as well as the considerations for businesses looking to adopt these new technologies.
In November we hosted our second Innovation Summit, which took place in Scale Space in London where we brought together leaders and changemakers from across business and academia to share their experiences, talk top trends and art of the possible in business, tech and innovation.
As we move into an increasingly digital age at an accelerating pace, we need to develop a mosaic of industry and business that is balanced, doing what we have always done well, but also comfortable with the challenges that regulation, sustainability and AI, for example, will present. We have a proud tradition in these islands of innovation, hard work and self-belief. We honour that history best by learning from it and by applying those character traits to make the most of our future.
Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell
Véyaon Awards 2023
Celebrating excellence, innovation and hard work within the business community, the return of the Véyaon Awards for 2023 saw heated competition from our leading entrepreneurs and innovators. Reaching capacity in its first year, moving to Beau Sejour enabled over 260 attendees to join us in recognising and awarding these leaders.
With 10 industry sponsored awards being given out on the night, it was truly a celebration of Guernsey's diverse and impressive business sector. Read about the winners of the 2023 Véyaon Awards here.
2024 Plans
Building on another fast paced year, plans for 2024 focus on maximising opportunities for entrepreneurs, expanding events and growing our offering to support more sectors. This year we want to open more opportunitites for Islanders to realise their big startup ambitions. Our goal is to make it even easier to get started on your new business and have the right support when you need it.
Whats New?
GENAI Bootcamps
Red Team are back, working with us to deliver a series of GenAI Bootcamps built around driving innovation and productivity for you and your teams. Get serious business impact by educating yourself on new ways of working.
Startup Academy 2.0
Feeling inspired and ready to get going? Startup academy is back for 2024 working with expert venture builders Blenheim Chalcot. The academy will operate over a 10 week period, immersing entrepreneurs in developing their ventures. This kick-start programme is specifically designed for early stage businesses in Guernsey with growth ambition! The programme will see experts in the filed share insider knowhow, tips, tricks and essential elements for investment and go-to-market strategy.
Showcase Guernsey
Lets get behind our scaling, globally focused founders and accelerate their growth! Showcase Guernsey provides Guernsey businesses with a dedicated growth programme, centered around the opportunities and tools to take their start ups onto the global stage. With a range of curated events both virtual and in person, this programme aims to connect, innovate and grow the next generation of low footprint, high value ventures from the Island.
