London startup accelerator announces “most diverse” cohort in its history

Techstars London has today unveiled its latest cohort, one which it claims to be the “most diverse” in the London accelerator’s history.

96 per cent of the founders involved are either female or from minority or immigrant backgrounds. 67 per cent of the businesses are female led, and 42 per cent of the businesses have a female CEO. 15 per cent of the founders are black, and in total, 69 per cent are minority founders.

The early stage startups originate from countries across the globe, including the USA, Nigeria, Malaysia and Denmark, all of whom have chosen Techstars London as the place to grow their business. The accelerator received more than 1,000 applicants for the programme and conducted over 400 interviews ahead of selecting the final group for 12 spots.

Here are the new companies joining Techstars this Autumn along with a brief description of each provided by a spokesperson:

• Verve: Helping distributed companies keep their cultures thriving with better data-driven company understanding
• Kitchenswaps: A marketplace for underutilised commercial kitchen space
• Boxxdocks: Building a sustainable global network of logistics boxes, to provide industry standard solutions for a $77bn market
• Fyyne: A business management software for independent beauty artists to connect with customers looking to book them
• Kestrl: An app helping Muslims to grow their wealth without compromising on their beliefs, using a personal finance tool and a software solution for banks
• Matutto: A relocation platform that helps expats feel confident when moving abroad with reliable information and advice from other expats
• Re-Style: A Treatwell for tailoring, connecting people with local tailors to alter and repair their clothes
• Harp Health: Developing personalised digital therapies for different stages of women’s lives
• Motics: Using wearable technology to gamify physiotherapy and improve recovery times through actionable muscle insights
• Zephframe: Making smart building energy management software that helps buildings greatly reduce energy use from heating and cooling
• Don’t Shop Swap: Allowing Gen Z to trade their clothes for digital tokens to spend on preloved fashion, helping them refresh their wardrobes, save money and reduce waste
• Gravel AI: Bringing data-driven decisions to the $4tn chemical manufacturing industry by creating granular ‘chemical level’ insights at scale taking on the likes of Mintel.

Designed to assist startup founders in “supercharging their plans”, Techstars London’s programme is guided by an experienced team including managing director, experienced VC and former founder and startup veteran, Saalim Chowdhury.

Saalim Chowdhury, commented: “Growing a business at any time is hard. Throw in a bout of economic turmoil and increased uncertainty, and founders starting up are presented with an increasingly difficult task - and that doesn’t take into account the ongoing challenges faced by underrepresented founders.

“We know that outlier founders drive outlier performance. Overwhelmingly most of our founders have overcome many social challenges and adversity to get to where they are. Their above average level of determination, tenacity and intellect is why we’ve chosen them.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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