Member Article

unbound London to host the first ever Female Founders Startup Challenge

The inaugural Female Founders Startup Challenge will be held on day one of this year’s unbound London innovation festival, held at The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane on the 19th and 20th July.

The competition, sponsored by Beluga Bean, will host the entrepreneurs behind eight of Europe’s most exciting startups in a live and interactive challenge. Each will vie to have their business named this year’s top female-led European startup by a distinguished jury led by Renée Elliott, the founder of Planet Organic.

Renée Elliott says: “Beluga Bean believes in teaching the important stuff that you didn’t learn elsewhere. My work now is supporting women on their entrepreneurial journey. I find that women are looking for more than just the business planning that forms the backbone of the business. They are also asking for help, are keen for support and are okay talking about what’s real. With Planet Organic, I pioneered a values-led, commercially-driven business that is Good Business, so I have experience and compassion.

“At unbound, where women entrepreneurs will come together in a friendly and dynamic arena to connect, learn, problem solve and move forward, I’ll be there facilitating a lunch session and running the Female Founders Startup Challenge. We’ll be looking for startups with that bit of magic which gives them the edge in the marketplace.”

The winning start-up will earn a prize worth over £4,500, a place on the ‘Launch’ course at Beluga Bean, the new academy from the team behind Planet Organic. This is a one-year mentoring programme led by Renée Elliott, and Life Coach and Thrive Global facilitator, Sam Wigan. Over the course of 12 monthly sessions entrepreneurs will learn about all aspects of business planning, coupled with the personal skills required to create or reinvent a business.

Renée and Sam will provide a highly condensed taster of the ‘Launch’ course in the Beluga Bean lunchtime workshop, which run on 19th July. Delegates can apply for place on that session at https://unbound.live/london2017/workshops/

Daniel Seal, co-founder and CEO of unbound, says: “Only 14 percent of founders and entrepreneurs in the UK are female, and just 10% of global investment goes to startups with a woman founder. unbound festivals are all about great ideas, and we believe that shouldn’t be limited by gender or anything else. One of our key pillars is diversity, and by investing in initiatives such as the female Founders Startup Challege we’re working towards bridging that gap.”

The Female Founders Startup Challenge will be open for applications until 9th July, please visit https://unbound.live/london2017/female-founders/ to enter.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Natasha Fish .