Durham City Incubator backs its seventh round of “innovative” startups

Seven County Durham entrepreneurs are set to benefit from a six-month accelerator programme which will help them launch their businesses.

Durham City Incubator (DCI) is designed to help entrepreneurs to launch startups with high growth potential, as well as ambitious local businesses that have been trading for under 12 months.

It is a joint programme between Durham University, New College Durham and Business Durham as part of efforts to grow and nurture the local economy in County Durham. Since it was set up in 2018, DCI has supported 47 entrepreneurs to flourish in the county, from launching their businesses to achieving “national recognition”.

Following its run of successful programmes, DCI is now working with the seventh cohort of diverse businesses from sectors including digital, food, marketing and professional services.

Each business will benefit from a £2,500 grant as well as six months of intensive training to ensure they are ready for the next stage of growth. Training and advice will cover areas ranging from financing and marketing, to legal issues, business strategy and much more.

The seven Durham based companies included in the latest cohort are:

• Audemic Ltd: an app for students and researchers allowing them to listen to academic research papers and easily take notes and share knowledge with colleagues.
• Sustain Meals Ltd: which provides healthy, sustainable, locally-sourced vegan meals, and has developed a meal box menu based around vegetable infused dahls.
• Egeria Limited: which is building an app for students, academics and creative writers as a motivational tool to schedule and complete their work using milestone targets and achievements.
• Hey! Food is Ready: an online marketplace for home-cooked meals, the platform connects home cooks from different cultural backgrounds with customers seeking freshly cooked meals.
• Popliv Digital Ltd: a marketing agency specialising in SEO and digital marketing.
• Lexoral Ltd: a software as a service for transcription and captioning, Lexoral combines AI-based automated transcription with simple tools to refine transcripts and auto correct mistakes.
• Rare Rockets: a deaf-led organisation providing services for the deaf community, including BSL interpreters and PA support workers.

Sarah Slaven, managing director at Business Durham, said: “It’s very exciting to play a role in supporting these innovative new businesses as they grow and thrive. It’s also positive to see the level of academic talent that we’re retaining in Durham, as DCI continues to attract businesses choosing to start-up in the county.

“With the support of Business Durham and our partners through this successful programme, entrepreneurs can gain the skills they need to launch a successful business with plans for growth. This in turn can help create jobs, attract investment and support the local economy not only in County Durham, but the North East as a whole.”

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