Connected Innovation Future Tech Delegation confirmed for Slush, Helsinki

The Connected Innovation team are delighted to confirm that we have finalised the delegation of six early-stage tech founders from Norfolk and Suffolk that we will be taking to Slush in Helsinki in November.

Slush proudly proclaims itself as the most founder-focused event on Earth — and after attending twice, we can confidently say it lives up to the hype. The whole event is designed to inspire founders and, more importantly, to connect them with investors, entrepreneurs and partners, who can help turn bold ideas into thriving ventures.

The Future Tech Programme, which is funded by Connected Innovation, Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council and delivered on the ground by Connected Innovation members Akcela Ventures and Innovation Labs Group, has helped founders to raise over £1.35m since it started in 2024.

Connected Innovation Programme Manager James Allen said: “we are delighted to offer this opportunity for six exciting start-ups across Norfolk and Suffolk, adding further value to the Future Tech Programme. We are working with other regional innovation ecosystems, national innovation support partners and Government departments to maximise this opportunity for the founders and our region. We will be putting on a package of support for the founders over the summer to help them with their preparations for Slush and maximise their prospects with investors.”

Details on the six founders:

• C-J Green, Co-Founder of CleverGoose: CleverGoose gives managers clear, confident HR guidance exactly when they need it, no jargon, no waiting, no guesswork. Designed for people who aren’t HR experts but still need to make the right call. CleverGoose delivers step-by-step digital support for handling real-world people issues.
• Justinas Kairys, Founder of Opendatabay: Opendatabay is an AI-powered data marketplace built for speed, precision, and scale. Opendatabay helps organisations find, explore, and monetise high-value datasets – with a focus on NLP, healthcare, synthetic data, and research-grade content. Unlike traditional data platforms that are fragmented and manual, Opendatabay uses advanced large language models to automate data discovery and intelligently match users to the most relevant datasets in seconds.
• Sarah Roberts, Founder of Far From: Far From connects skilled travellers with premium hosts offering accommodation in exchange for project help. From restoring country homes to supporting creative ventures, Far From matches capable people with meaningful placements; all vetted, structured, and built on trust. Designed for professionals taking a career break or travelling with purpose, Far From offers an alternative to traditional tourism and outdated exchange sites.
• Richard Stowe, Software Engineer at Verifleet: Verifleet is an AI-powered software platform reimagining how organisations manage vehicles used for work, particularly those they do not own. These employee-owned vehicles, known as grey fleet, often go unmanaged despite carrying significant operational, legal and environmental risk. Built in Ipswich by a seasoned team of expert engineers, Verifleet brings these vehicles into focus. The platform automates compliance checks for MOT, tax and insurance, flags safety issues before they cause disruption, and delivers precise, vehicle-level emissions tracking. By replacing manual processes with real-time insight, Verifleet helps businesses reduce downtime, improve safety and meet sustainability goals, all with minimal administrative effort.
• Andy Lloyd, CEO of Reta QR: Reta QR is changing the way customers interact with home assembly products after the sale, bringing instant on-demand support to the palm of their hand. Based in Norwich, this fast-growing tech start-up connects physical products to a digital support experience via a branded QR code placed on the product and its packaging. With a quick scan, consumers are taken to a branded, dedicated, product-specific page featuring step-by-step video guides, e-manuals, AI helpbot, and upsell opportunities—all designed to reduce frustration and improve customer satisfaction.
• Jonathan Laker, CEO and Founder of Quick Brew Content: Quick Brew Content (QBC) helps time-poor SMEs position themselves as industry leaders on LinkedIn without writing a word. Their AI generates and schedules tailored, high-quality posts with minimal user input. There are 67 million LinkedIn pages globally and 96% are underperforming by not posting content even weekly, the opportunity is huge. The team have built their MVP, proven results via founder-led experiments (3,000+ impressions in 10 days), and are preparing to launch.