The Chamber is a champion partner for East Mids Tech Week 2026 – a flagship technology and B2B festival taking place across the region from 15th – 18th June.
The week-long festival aims to share knowledge, promote networking and attract inward investment to the region through a packed diary of headline and fringe events built around core economic clusters.
Speakers and guests include:
Stuart Clarke MBE – one of the UK’s leading voices on regional tech collaboration
Mike Soutar – media investor and team leader on The Apprentice
Rajinder Bhuhi – project manager of Forging Ahead, a partnership of 16 Midlands universities helping supercharge the Midlands’ innovation ecosystem
Topics covered at East Mids Tech Week will range from angel investments to looking at some of the region’s brightest university spin-outs; unlocking the power of AI for automation and female leaders in tech.
In all, there will be more than 250 presenters at 100-plus sessions, with every event free to attend.
Louise Holland, Managing Director of Tech Week organiser Holland Alexander, said it would be an ‘electric festival’ driving attention to the businesses in the region that are creating a buzz around tech and fuelling economic growth.
Chamber Chief Executive Scott Knowles will host a session on infrastructure investment on the opening day at Vaillant Live, Derby. It will be one of four big sessions at the venue that day.
NetMonkeys, which provides managed IT services from offices in Nottingham, Manchester and London, will lead a panel session and host a hands-on workshop designed to help business owners and their teams understand how agentic AI can help their operations. Managing director Nick Gall said: “There is a real energy in the East Midlands tech scene, and this festival will finally provide the national and international spotlight our incredible innovators deserve.”
Highlights expected each day of East Mids Tech Week 2026:
Day one – Monday, 15th June – includes an investment show for businesses looking for R&D, tech or innovation funding, with Mike Soutar discussing investment trends and how to close a deal. Vaillant Live will also host an AI tech and creative tech event that day, showing the latest in technical advancement for product design.
Day two – Tuesday, 16th June – includes the Energy Research Accelerator Conference 2026, at Vaillant Live, alongside defence and security tech, and engineering tech headline events.
Day three – Wednesday, 17th June – includes a focus on women in tech and takes place in Nottingham.
Day four – Thursday, 18th June – includes two events in Leicester, with data and space tech covered at Space Park Leicester.
To find out more go to www.emtechweek.com
