Climb26, the premier business festival created by ClimbUK, is returning to the Royal Armouries Museum and Leeds Dock for its fourth consecutive year on Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd July 2026.
The two-day event aims to connect thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, operators, and business leaders. Shunning predictable celebrity keynotes and theoretical speeches, the festival relies on seasoned founders and operators who are just a few steps ahead of the audience to share honest, practical insights on scaling businesses.
ClimbUK was established to directly challenge regional and gender funding disparities, such as the fact that all-female founding teams still receive only around 2% of UK venture capital funding, and that London and the South East attract the majority of investment. By hosting the festival in Leeds, organisers aim to bridge the gap and provide ambitious businesses outside of London with direct access to crucial investment networks, mentors, and corporate buyers.
The 2026 lineup features more than 40 workshops, interactive masterclasses, open-mic pitch sessions, and sector-specific meetups. Attendees will cover core growth topics, including navigating investment rounds, deploying emerging tech, building high-performing teams, and scaling operations into international markets. To maximise networking efficiency, the event will also use an AI-powered app to match delegates, suggest specific sessions, and facilitate introductions based on shared business goals.
Gordon Bateman, Founder of ClimbUK, said:
“We created ClimbUK because we believed ambitious businesses outside London deserved better access to investment, expertise and opportunity. Too many business events feel predictable and inaccessible, with the same speakers and the same audiences year after year. ClimbUK was designed to be different and our goal is simple: for every attendee to leave with new ideas, valuable connections and greater confidence to take the next step in their business journey.”
