​Frontier Tech Across Borders - Online Heat
Date: October 22, 2026
Format: Online, closed-door pitching contest

​Investors x Founders only

​​Apply to Pitch in the Global Online Heat APPLY

​Previous London in person editions:

• ​Welcomed Finalists from across the Globe selected from over 170 applications.

• ​18 institutional funds on judging panels with many more in attendance. Check the funds in previous editions

• ​Over $50K worth of additional value from Prize Partners

​Six finalists will be selected to pitch live, with one founder given the opportunity to pitch in London this November, in front of an international panel of investors and partners drawn from the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the US..

​Frontier Tech Across Borders is a closed-door pitching contest for founders building in frontier AI, deep infrastructure, bioscience, and defence technology.

​This online heat brings together selected companies from the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and beyond to compete for a place in the London final.

​This is not an open pitch competition and founders are requested to submit their applications to pitch in order to be selected to attend.

​All attendees are selected by invitation and curation, and the session is closed to the public.

​Startup Founder - Is this for you?

​Seed stage, Series A, B+. Solid traction. Early institutional or VC backing. Building in one of the themes above, with genuine cross-border ambition.

​Startup applications: APPLY

​Format

• ​Structured pitch 4 mins pitch + 3 mins questions, closed room, online

• ​A panel of investors and partners

• ​6 finalists selected to advance from the applicants

• ​The winner given the opportunity to pitch live in London, 12th November in front of the panel of judges from funds and international organisations.

​Apply to Pitch in the Global Online Heat

• ​Apply / Get involved

  • ​Application deadline: 10th October

  • ​Startup applications: APPLY

  • ​6 startups selected to pitch

  • ​Investors / partners interested in judging or partnering contact investors@sclrlabs.com

​Meet our Judging Panel (more profiles to be confirmed in the coming days):

​

​Carles Reina — Managing Partner Baobab Ventures

​Carles leads Baobab Ventures, an operator-driven deep-tech fund investing at pre-seed and seed stages worldwide. He was the first investor and later VP Revenue at ElevenLabs, building the company's go-to-market across Europe, North America, India, Japan, Korea, and beyond. Earlier in his career he was an early European employee at Uber and helped scale Tractable AI globally. He is also an active angel investor with over 60 deep-tech investments since 2017.

​Craig Fagan - Partner Ashurst Perkins Coie

​Craig's practice is grounded in his experience working on the client side as General Counsel at global fintech Bud, where he worked closely with founders as part of the executive team to scale the business and learned important insights as the lead on global expansion, fundraising and equity transactions.Craig is now a Corporate partner advising founders and investors on growth capital, M&A, and venture capital transactions.

​Benjamin Storey - Head of Investor Connectivity Barclays UK

​Benjamin leads investor connectivity at Barclays UK and founded Barclays Demo Directory, the bank's platform for connecting early-stage founders with active investors. He has spent 14 years at Barclays, moving from relationship and credit roles into the innovation ecosystem as Head of Eagle Labs Cambridge and Head of South and East Eagle Labs.

​Demo Directory runs sector-focused demo days from Barclays HQ in London, with up to 45 founders pitching to around 200 investors across VCs, angel networks and family offices. Partners have included Octopus Ventures, Google Cloud, SFC Capital and Redrice Ventures.

​5 Years Building Barclays Demo Directory | 180+ Investors per Demo Day

​Artem Shakhbazyan - Director, Commercial IT & Digital, International Medical AstraZeneca

​Artem leads commercial IT and digital strategy across AstraZeneca's international medical business, having previously served as International Commercial Innovation Lead within the group. His earlier career spans founding a tax advisory partnership and serving as COO of a biopharmaceutical cluster.

​AstraZeneca is transforming the future of healthcare by unlocking the power of what science can do for people, society and the planet.

​Harry Williams - Senior Associate Highland Europe

​Harry joined Highland Europe in 2020 and works with companies across the portfolio, including LemFi, Signal AI, PVcase, Podimo, Yoobic and Le Collectionist.

​Highland Europe provides growth capital to Europe's leading technology companies, backing exceptional teams with a collaborative, long-term approach.

​Patrycja Maksymowicz - Founder / CEO sclr labs

​Patrycja leads sclr labs, London's venture growth infrastructure supporting scale-ready ventures through commercialisation, international expansion, and access to institutional capital. Over three decades she has built and led teams from 5 to 450+, architected growth strategies for VC-backed startups and blue-chip clients including LEGO, BMW, and Scania, and supported over 350 ventures across 15+ countries through sclr labs.

​Prize Partners:

​Ashurst Perkins Coie works alongside founders, high-growth companies, and investors throughout the business life cycle, from early-stage fundraising through growth-capital rounds, international expansion, strategic transactions, and exit.

​With 52 offices across 20 countries and regions, the firm combines global reach with a deep understanding of the commercial challenges facing scaling businesses. Its multidisciplinary team advises on fundraising, corporate governance, M&A, strategic partnerships, product development, regulatory compliance and intellectual property. Drawing on decades of experience within the venture ecosystem and extensive investor relationships, the firm enables founders to refine their fundraising strategies and connect with suitable capital partners.

​Accuracast: an international digital marketing agency helping ambitious brands accelerate growth through data and technology. With offices in London, New York, and Madrid, the agency specialises in paid media, SEO, generative AI optimisation, and social media marketing. Clients include PwC, Penguin Random House, WTW, Club Med, Informa, China Mobile, and Hard Rock Hotels.

​The winners will get Creator by Accuracast access worth up to $8.5K.