Sponsoring the Growth Programme

A unique channel to the mid-market

The mid-market, or growth sector, is notoriously difficult to reach via traditional sales and marketing channels – and getting to the senior executives who run such organisations is harder still. Knowledge Peers offers a uniquely attractive way to target these people. 

As experienced business people ourselves, we pride ourselves on our ability to understand the interests and preferences of this senior-level audience. We don’t waste their time with low-value contributions or naked sales pitches. We enable them to dip in and out of our programme according to personal preference. Unlike other member groups, we don’t focus only on events, on web content or on networking. And finally, we know that directors like to mix business with pleasure, so we keep the tone informal and the events lively. 

What sponsors get

As a sponsor of the Growth Companies Programme, you have access to this key group of people at the precise time when they are engaging and looking for advice – so you know they will be listening. You will get:

• Presence at each of our events including, where appropriate, a chairing role
• Brand exposure on all related collateral, such as our website, email communications to members and published material (including the Knowledge Peers Research Panel)
• A Talking Guide produced on the back of each event you sponsor - an attractive interactive report showcasing what took place at the event, that you can use as marketing collateral (click here for an example)
• Participation in the Knowledge Peers Research Panel, including the ability to request additions to the research framework, access to the raw data, and inclusion in related online conferences with the participants
• A quarterly report detailing the opportunities you have had for exposure to the members of the Growth Companies Programme during the previous quarter.

Interested? Contact Chris Dines at Knowledge Peers via email or on +44 7507 837390.

Private equity financing: a taste of the Knowledge Peers approach

Knowledge Peers interviewed the directors of ten growth companies which had received private equity financing, in sums of between £250,000 to £5 million. We spoke to them about their experiences in finding investors, making the pitch, structuring the deal, and making relationships work post-investment. We also spoke to a number of specialist advisors in the field. 

In September and October 2009 we published two reports summarising the findings of our research, including recommendations to directors of companies seeking to raise growth finance from private equity firms, and including embedded video interviews with all of our interviewees. The reports were made widely available to Knowledge Peers’ members. You can read them here and here.

In November 2009 we held an event on private equity financing at the Royal Institution in London, sponsored by ISIS and Baker Tilly. This event attracted around 80 directors of growth sector businesses, and featured a very lively panel debate and presentations, plus several hours of good-quality networking for all concerned. The event generated a huge amount of interest and follow-up from members, including those who couldn’t attend, spurring further interviews on topics of their interest and several requests for introductions.