Virgin StartUp supports London’s most under-represented business founders

Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit incubator for UK business founders, has opened a new fully-funded accelerator programme for under-represented business owners based in Greater London.

Thanks to funding from Greater London Authority via the UK’s Shared Prosperity Fund, Empower 100 will support 100 female, ethnic minority and disabled founders from the capital, maximising their chances of scaling and financing their businesses successfully. The two-month programme will run until the end of 2024.

Applications are now open for the first cohort, which will start on Thursday 3 August 2023. To be eligible to apply, founders must be turning over at least £50,000 per year, have two employees or more and have been operating for 18-months +.

Linda Grant, chair at Virgin StartUp, commented: “Systemic inequalities and biases continue to be a barrier for under-represented founders of early-stage businesses. Empower 100 is about taking a step towards addressing some of these issues and encouraging a vibrant and diverse start-up community.

“We want all founders to have the knowledge, connections and confidence to reach their full growth potential. We are proud to be running Empower 100 alongside Virgin StartUp’s existing 50/50 pledge to equally fund women and men business founders. Our long-term ambition is to extend Empower 100 to other regions across the UK.”

Virgin StartUp has also recently extended its role as a Business Support Partner for the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loan scheme and will be distributing £36m in funding to early-stage business founders over the next two years.

All 100 founders on the Empower 100 programme will receive up to 42-hours of expert support delivered across group workshops and one-to-one sessions, equipping founders with the key skills and advice they will need to succeed across three core areas; growth strategy, leadership skills and investment readiness.

Each founder will also have a weekly meeting with a different expert to help them work through specific problem areas in their business, such as sustainability and purpose, brand building, sales and marketing, leadership, finance and investment.

When the programme ends, the participants will continue to be part of a facilitated peer-to-peer support group for six months where they can share learnings on their fundraising and business growth journey.

During this time, all100 founders will also be given free access to Virgin StartUp’s community support platform so they can access additional support and resources, live webinars and a business advice helpline.

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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