The co-founder of Manchester unicorn Matillion is the latest speaker confirmed for the GM 125 Rising Stars of ÀÏ¾ÅÆ·²è launch event.

CTO Ed Thompson co-founded the data productivity company in 2011 and it achieved unicorn status in 2021.

He’ll be joined by a number of the companies included in ÀÏ¾ÅÆ·²èCloud’s inaugural ‘GM 125 Rising Stars of ÀÏ¾ÅÆ·²è’ list, run in association with GM ÀÏ¾ÅÆ·²è Growth Hub, and will be speaking at the launch event at KPMG’s Manchester office on May 17th.

Patrick Smith, founder of  Zally, which is on a mission to end passwords as we know them, and Janine Smith, director of GM ÀÏ¾ÅÆ·²è Growth Hub, have brought the number of confirmed speakers for the event to 10.

Such was the response, the GM 125 Rising Stars of ÀÏ¾ÅÆ·²è list had to be increased from the original target of 100 firms and there were still enough exciting companies to create a separate ‘Ones to Watch’ list of 30 up-and-coming businesses.

The lists showcase companies from Greater Manchester’s 10 local authority areas across four key sectors: GreenTech; digital, creative and tech; advanced manufacturing and materials; and life sciences.

Seven speakers confirmed for Rising Stars launch event

The other speakers include Sean Brown, CEO and founder of Versori, who has gone from sleeping rough to raising $10m for his startup, and Dr Vivek Koncherry, CEO of Graphene Innovations Manchester.

Holly Holland, co-founder of the exciting financial app Financielle, will also be taking part in the panel discussion.

The other four confirmed speakers are Gareth Langley, CEO of Piing; Eleanor Harry, CEO, HACE: Data Changing Child Labour; Somayeh Taheri, CEO of fast growing Urban Chain, and Gary Brandwood, managing director of Wigan-based Perfect Sense Energy.

The launch will be followed by a series of sector-specific roundtables across the region.

GM 125 Rising Stars of ÀÏ¾ÅÆ·²è 2024