The first ever Techstars Startup Weekend in the Isle of Man and Crown Dependencies.24 builders, 5 startup teams, and 70+ community members over 54 non-stop hours.
Nobody had run onehere before.
Nowhere in the Isle of Man had hosted a Techstars Startup Weekend. Neither had Jersey or Guernsey. In July 2026, 24 builders came together at Launchpad Douglas to take ideas from whiteboard concepts into live pitchable products.
54h
Idea to Pitch Sprint
Friday 18:00 kickoff to Sunday 21:00 finale.
24
Registrations
Builders, engineers, and domain operators.
100%
Completion Rate
5 of 5 teams formed and pitched on stage.
14
Nationalities
Represented across 70+ people at Launchpad.
What every builder received
Every £15 registration ticket included direct access to global venture software credits, hardware connectivity, and full event catering.
$300 Cloud Credits
Direct Google Cloud infrastructure credits provided to every participant.
30k Points & $5k AWS
Brex reward points and $5,000 in Amazon Web Services cloud compute credits.
Deel HR Free + 10% Off
Global hiring suite access, compliance tools, and platform discounts.
Dedicated IoT SIM Card
Cellular IoT connectivity SIM card for hardware and connected MVPs.
Certificate & 25% Scholarship
Verified digital completion certificate plus a 25% scholarship on all academic courses from LIBT.
Official Event T-Shirt
Official Techstars Startup Weekend Douglas branded participant apparel.
7 Full Meals & Snacks
Breakfast, lunch, dinners & snacks across 54 hours provided by local partners.
How it happened
54 hours of continuous innovation, collaboration, and building.
Present an idea
Certified Techstars Facilitator Katerina Chantzi opened the weekend, followed by talks from Sesiri Pathirane (LIBT) and Dale Taylor (Vodafone). After the Half-Baked icebreaker, attendees pitched in 60 seconds, voted on favorites, and formed 5 startup teams.
Build, validate & mentor
Morning insights from Shelley Langan-Newton and Chris Kissack (Acclaim). Teams tackled the Lean Canvas masterclass for customer validation, followed by 1-on-1 mentor speed dating with mentors.
Pitch your startup
Morning mindset and pitch coaching with Carol Glover. Final slide deck polish, live demos on stage, and 5-minute pitches before the judging panel, achieving a 100% completion rate with 3 winning startups taking the stage.
Experience the weekend
Solsen Media cut an official recap film for each day. Follow the energy inside Launchpad Douglas across the 54 hours.
The winning startups
Five teams pitched before a judging panel on Sunday afternoon. Every prize was structured to support them in building real startups.
ProfitM8
A pricing-for-profit application that enables small and medium enterprises to price products on verified unit margins instead of guesswork.
Six months Launchpad Pro membership + six months marketing coaching from Launch Experiments.
Biosphere Beacons
A free, public directory of organisations with a Biosphere scorecard, built on the Isle of Man Government's Climate Impact Assessment methodology and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Six months Launchpad Flex membership + marketing coaching from Launch Experiments.
WhyPost
A social media management and generative marketing tool giving small local businesses the reach of companies ten times their size.
Three months Launchpad Flex membership + marketing coaching from Launch Experiments.
The experts who mentored & judged
Industry leaders and domain specialists who dedicated 54 hours to coach, advise, and evaluate the cohort.
Techstars Certified Facilitator
LSE Students' Union
CEO
London Institute of Business & Technology
Tech Founder & Cyber CEO
SQR
Head of Global Specialist - IoT
Vodafone
Intrapreneurial Leadership Coach
Carol Glover Coaching
Lecturer in Business
University College Isle of Man
Co-Founder & Digital Strategist
LEMA Logic
Tech Educator of the Year 2025
Acclaim Limited
Director of Learning & Dev
London Institute of Business & Technology
Managing Trustee & Director
Isle of Man Code Club
Executive Director
Exchange Capital Partners
Co-Founder
Skinscanner.gg
Strategic Advisor
PLYAZ & Craft Applied
Chapter Director
Startup Grind Muscat
Fractional CTO
Tech Founder & Investor
Ebitza Capital
Business Development Manager
Dazzler
Independent Director
Founder
Manx Digital
Founder & Director
Fuzzelogic Solutions
Anonymous survey,
honest answers
Participants were surveyed anonymously with zero email capture for unfiltered evaluation of the weekend.
80 NPS
Net Promoter Score
Global startup benchmark.
4.6 / 5
Facilitator Rating
Katerina Chantzi delivery & guidance.
4.6 / 5
Workspace & Food
Launchpad Douglas hospitality.
80%
Continuing Idea
Post-event venture momentum.
4.4 / 5
Mentor Sessions
1-on-1 speed dating quality & depth.
4.4 / 5
Startup Knowledge
Understanding Lean Canvas & MVP.
4.4 / 5
Founder Confidence
Idea-to-business readiness.
60%
Return Rate
Will attend next edition.
“Loved the experience. I got to meet important people in the industry and network.”
“A fantastic experience and a great opportunity to meet, learn from, and collaborate with a really diverse group of people.”
Reach and press archive
National broadcast, regional publications, and European tech media covering the milestone weekend in Douglas.
August/September 2026 Issue · Page 41 Feature
Exclusive editorial feature covering the inaugural Techstars Startup Weekend Douglas in the Isle of Man's premier lifestyle and business publication.
Techstars Startup Weekend to Put the Isle of Man on the Global Startup Map
For the first time in its history, the Isle of Man hosted one of the world's most recognized startup programs, bringing together entrepreneurs and innovators.
'Startup weekend' hopes to ignite Manx entrepreneurial spirit
A non-profit startup business weekend designed to ignite an entrepreneurial spirit and support untapped talent on the Isle of Man.
Techstars Startup Weekend debuts in Isle of Man next month
Organizers highlight the Isle of Man as home to an incredible pool of untapped talent, innovators, and creators.
Techstars Startup event to take place in July
A 54-hour event bringing together innovators, developers, designers, and aspiring entrepreneurs to collaborate and build startups at Launchpad.
The weekend in pictures
A panoramic visual chronicle across all 3 days of Techstars Startup Weekend Douglas.
Powered by our ecosystem
Every resource, meal, flight, venue workspace, prize package, and recap video was made possible through our local and global partners.
Event Sponsors
Global Partners
Community & Educational Partners
